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THE    DRAGON    IN 
SHALLOW  WATERS 


THE  DRAGON  IN 
SHALLOW   WATERS 


BY 


V.    SACKVILLE-WEST 

AUTHOR   OF  "HERITAGE" 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
NEW   YORK   AND    LONDON 

Ubc  IknickerbocKer  press 
1922 


Copyright,  1922 

by 

V.  Sackville-West 

Made'Ki*jth,fe  United  6tat©»'<^  America 


/^ 


To  L 


5  1^1 


The  dragon  in   shallow   waters  became   the  butt 
of  shrimps. — Chinese  Proverb. 


The  Dragon  in  Shallow  Waters 


The  Dragon  in  Shallow  Waters 

I 

An  immense  gallery,  five  hundred  feet  long,  oc- 
cupied the  upper  floor  of  the  main  factory-building. 
Looking  down  the  gallery,  a  perspective  of  iron 
girders  spanned  the  roof,  gaunt  skeletons  of  archi- 
tecture, uncompromising,  inexorably  utilitarian,  in- 
flexible, remorseless.  A  drone  of  machinery  filled 
the  air,  neither  very  loud  nor  very  near  at  hand,  but 
softly  and  unremittingly  continuous;  the  drone  of 
clanking,  of  loosely- running  wheels  and  leather 
belts,  muffled  by  the  intervening  floor  into  a  not 
unpleasant  murmur.  Outside  the  windows  three 
chimneys  reared  their  heads  side  by  side,  emitting 
three  parallel  streams  of  smoke,  gigantic  black 
plumes  that  floated  horizontally  away  over  the 
flooded  country,  and  that  at  night  were  flecked  with 
red  sparks  as  they  flowed  out  from  the  red  glare 

at  their  base. 

3 


:-:-Ylifi  DRAGON' IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

All  these  things,  the  chimneys  and  the  girders, 
were  crushingly  larger  than  the  men  who  laboured 
amongst  them.  The  men  seemed  of  pigmy  size  as 
they  pushed  their  hand-trucks  along  the  floor  of  the 
big  gallery.  They  pushed  them  down  the  narrow 
passage-ways  left  between  the  vats.  The  gallery 
was  full  of  vats,  set  in  pairs  down  the  whole  length 
of  the  building;  square  vats  twenty  feet  each  way, 
as  large  and  as  deep  as  an  ordinary  room.  Some 
of  the  vats  were  empty,  temporarily  not  in  use; 
some  were  only  half  full ;  but  in  most  the  hot,  liquid 
soap  boiled  and  bubbled  right  up  to  the  rim. 

The  smell  which  filled  the  gallery  was  the  smell 

of  the  soap,  pungent  and  acrid  on  the  surface,  but 

fat  and  nauseating  underneath,  rasping  the  throat 

of  the  chance  visitor  before  it  penetrated  deeper 

with  its  hot,  furry  smell  that  tickled  and  disgusted 

the   sensitiveness  at  the  back  of  his  nose.     The 

chance  visitor  rarely  lingered  long  in  the  gallery. 

He  would  stand  for  a  few  moments  watching  the 

men  that  came  and  went  in  their  splashed  overalls, 

indifferent  to  his  presence ;  then  he  would  turn  to  go 

carefully  down  the  steep  iron  stair  into  the  pleas- 

anter  rooms  where  white  powder  was  heaped  on  the 

floor  in  miniature  mountains,  and  where  lines  of 

4 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

girls  seated  on  high  stools  were  occupied  in  tying 
ribbons  with  the  twist  of  dexterity  round  the  necks 
of  scent  bottles,  and  the  room  was  filled  with  scent 
like  a  garden  of  orange-trees  in  blossom. 

Up  in  the  gallery,  the  soap  in  the  vats  moved 
uneasily  with  the  motion  of  an  evil  quicksand.  The 
soap  was  yellow,  and  its  consistency  one  of  slimy 
liquidity.  If  the  vat  were  not  sufficiently  full,  the 
quantity  increased  mysteriously  from  below,  the 
level  rising  thanks  to  the  unseen  source  of  supply. 
It  was  not  hard  to  believe  that  the  recesses  of  the 
vat  were  inhabited  by  some  foul  and  secret  mon- 
ster whose  jaws  emitted  the  viscid,  yellow  stream 
to  conceal  his  abode.  The  soap  moved  restlessly, 
boiling  and  bursting  into  little  craters,  which  sub- 
sided, leaving  wrinkles  and  circles  on  the  surface. 
Quiet  for  a  moment,  it  heaved  in  another  place; 
heaved  slowly  and  deliberately,  but  did  not  break; 
heaved  again;  broke  with  a  spout  of  steam  and  a 
sluggish  splash  as  the  walls  of  the  crater  fell  in. 
It  was  never  altogether  still.  It  seemed  alive,  be- 
cause it  swelled  and  breathed  and  vomited,  or  at  least 
it  seemed  as  though  some  live  creature  dwelt  within, 
occasioning  by  its  movements  the  disturbances  and 

eruptions  of  the  slime. 

5 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

In  other  vats  a  wrinkled  brown  skin  had  formed 
over  the  cooHng  soap,  a  skin  puckered  and  broken 
up  into  valleys  and  chasms,  plains  and  ridges,  so 
that  of  all  things  it  most  resembled  the  physical 
map  of  a  country.  The  parallel  was  exact  as  to 
colour,  even  to  the  greenish  stretches  at  the  bottom 
of  the  valleys.  Mountain  ridges  three  inches  high, 
chasms  three  inches  deep,  plateaux  six  inches  across, 
the  landscape  of  some  dead  but  perpetually  changing 
world.  For  here  the  slime  moved  also,  but  with  a 
difference;  it  did  not  seethe,  it  did  not  erupt;  it 
rather  subsided;  was  a  dead,  rather  than  a  living 
thing.  The  monster  that  dwelt  in  those  depths  had 
died,  and  lay  at  the  bottom,  a  heap  of  corruption 
the  imagination  would  not  willingly  picture. 

Other  vats  were  empty,  and  if  the  hot  boiling 
soap  resembled  a  shifting  quicksand,  and  the  cooling 
soap  the  desolation  of  a  dead  world,  the  empty  vats 
resembled  the  sea-bottom.  The  others,  with  their 
hint  of  greed  and  evil,  might  be  more  terrifying; 
these  empty  vats  were  infinitely  more  fantastic. 
Their  sides  were  caked  with  the  dry  soap,  brown- 
yellow,  and  their  depths  were  suprisingly  revealed; 
ending  in  a  blunt  point,  like  the  point  of  a  cone; 
they  were  sunk  lower  than  the  floor  of  the  gallery 

6 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

into  an  unlighted  chamber  of  corresponding  size 
below.  In  these  empty  vats,  various  portions  of  ap- 
paratus were  brought  to  light:  immense  chains, 
caked  and  corroded,  hung  like  ship's  cables  and  were 
lost  in  the  deposit  at  the  bottom;  vast  strainers  swung 
against  the  sides;  ropes,  stiffened  hard  as  wood, 
spanned  diagonally  from  side  to  side;  and,  emerg- 
ing from  the  tapering  depths,  stumps  of  wreckage 
stood  up,  transformed  from  their  original  shape  to 
stalagmites  of  dry  frangible  matter,  that  would 
chip  away,  crisp  and  powdery,  betraying  the  nature 
of  their  kernel, — was  it  a  shovel  ?  was  it  an  anchor  ? 
was  it  the  decaying  bones  of  the  ancient  monster? — 
and  the  low  parapets  of  the  vats  were  coated  with  the 
same  brittle  dryness  that  yellowed  the  walls  of  those 
grotesque  and  extraordinary  pits. 


II 
I 

The  workers  were  subordinate  to  the  factory ;  it 
was  a  giant,  a  monster,  that  they  served.  At  night 
the  red  glow  from  the  chimneys, — ^the  glow  from 
the  fires  that  must  never  flag  or  die, — accentuated 
the  disregard  of  man's  convenience.  To  keep  alive 
that  red  breath  of  activity,  men  must  forego  their 
privilege  of  sleep. 

The  tragedy  in  the  household  of  the  Denes  was 
not  allowed  to  interrupt  the  general  work  of  the 
factory,  but  the  overseer,  Mr.  Calthorpe,  offered 
Silas  Dene  a  week,  and  Gregory  Dene  a  day, — ^the 
day  of  the  funeral, — as  a  concession  to  their  mourn- 
ing.    He  thought  the  offer  sufficiently  generous. 

The  brothers  Dene,  however,  refused  it. 

They  lived  in  a  double-cottage ;  Gregory  with  his 
wife  in  one  half;  Silas  and  his  wife,  before  her 
sudden  death,  in  the  other.  Although  situated  in 
the  village  street,  it  was  a  lonely  cottage,  for  "the 

8 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

black  Denes"  did  not  encourage  neighbourly  com- 
munion, nor  did  the  neighbours  trouble  them  with 
unwelcome  advances.  This  was  not  surprising,  for 
they  were  indeed  a  sinister  race  to  whom  affliction 
seemed  naturally  drawn.  Nature  cursed  them  from 
the  hour  of  their  birth  with  physical  deficiencies  and 
spiritual  savagery;  whether  or  no,  as  some  said, 
the  latter  was  only  to  be  expected  as  the  outcome 
of  the  former,  the  name  of  Dene  remained  the  in- 
timidation of  the  village. 

Others  again  said  that  Nature  was  not  so  much 
to  be  held  responsible  as  the  Denes'  father,  whom 
everybody  had  known  as  a  rake,  and  who  never 
ought  to  have  married,  much  less  begotten  children. 

Of  the  two  brothers,  Gregory  had  been  deaf  and 
dumb  from  birth,  and  Silas  blind.  Their  physique, 
however,  was  full  of  splendour,  and  they  were  ac- 
counted two  of  the  most  valuable  workers  in  the 
factory, — magnificent  men,  tall,  muscular,  and  dark. 

Calthorpe  came  to  their  cottage  directly  he  was 
told  of  the  accident.  It  was  then  evening,  and  the 
accident  had  occurred  in  the  earlier  part  of  the 
afternoon.  Calthorpe  knew  no  details  beyond  the 
bare  fact  that  Silas  Dene's  wife  had  been  discovered, 
a  mass  of  almost  unidentifiable  disfigurement,  lying 

9 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

across  the  railway  line  after  the  passage  of  the  little 
local  train.  He  had  been  told  this  much  by  the  men 
who  had  come  running  with  the  news  to  his  office; 
they  had  come  breathless,  shocked,  mystified;  he 
had  understood  at  once  that  they  were  mystified; 
they  had  made  no  comment,  but  Calthorpe  had  been 
quick  to  catch  the  hint  of  mystery;  any  concern  of 
the  Denes  was  always  luscious  with  mystery. 

He  found  Silas,  the  blind  man,  sitting  in  his 
kitchen,  chewing  an  unlighted  pipe.  He  appeared 
to  be  strangely  indifferent.  A  little  man  named 
Hambley,  Silas  Dene's  only  crony,  sat  in  a  dark 
corner,  not  speaking,  but  observing  everything  with 
bright  furtive  eyes,  like  the  eyes  of  a  weasel.  He 
hugged  himself  in  his  corner;  a  sallow  faced  little 
man,  with  a  red  tip  to  his  thin  nose.  Gregory  Dene 
was  in  the  kitchen  too,  and  Gregory's  wife,  with 
frightened  eyes,  was  laying  the  table  for  supper; 
she  moved  quickly,  placing  cups  and  plates,  and 
casting  rapid  glances  at  the  two  men. 

"I'm  terribly  distressed,  Silas,"  Calthorpe  began. 

"What,  you  too,  Mr.  Calthorpe,  come  to  con- 
Hole?"  cried  the  blind  man,  laughing  loudly.  "Well, 
it  takes  an  accident  to  make  me  popular,  it  seems; 
I  haven't  had  so  many  callers  in  the  last  four  years 

10 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

as  in  the  last  four  hours.  Sit  down,  Mr.  Calthorpe; 
I  ask  'em  all  to  sit  down.    Nan,  give  a  chair." 

Calthorpe  sat  down  uneasily,  beneath  the  silent 
scrutiny  of  Gregory  and  the  quick  glances  of 
Gregory's  wife.  The  burning  and  sightless  eyes  of 
Silas  were  also  bent  upon  him. 

*T  have  only  just  heard  the  news,"  he  began  again, 
"or  I  would  have  come  sooner.  .  .  ." 

"That's  all  right.  The  neighbours  ran  to  help, 
and  to  nose  out  what  they  could;  the  parson  came 
too,  he's  upstairs  now.  All  very  helpful,"  said  Silas, 
with  another  burst  of  laughter.  "Gregory,  my 
brother,  too,  though  he  isn't  much  company,  but 
we  understand  one  another.  Don't  we,  Gregory? 
He  can't  hear,  but  I  always  talk  to  him  as  though 
he  could.  I  trust  him  with  my  secrets,  Mr.  Cal- 
thorpe. They  say  dead  men  tell  no  tales ;  I  say  deaf 
and  dumb  men  tell  no  tales  either.  We  understand 
one  another,  don't  we,  Gregory?"  He  looked  without 
seeing  at  the  deaf  mute  who  had  listened  without 
hearing,  aware  only  that  Silas  was  speaking  by  the 
movement  of  his  lips.  "One's  always  sorry  to  have 
told  a  secret,"  Silas  said,  nodding  at  Calthorpe; 
"always  sorry  sooner  or  later,  but  Gregory,  my 
brother,  he's  safe  with  any  secret.    I  only  tell  them 

11 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

to  him.  Never  to  Nan,  and  I  never  told  one  to 
Hannah.  Only  to  Gregory.  All  my  secrets,"  and 
he  fell  silent,  and  began  biting  his  lips,  pressing 
them  between  his  teeth  with  his  fingers,  that  were 
surprisingly  long  and  nervous. 

Calthorpe  did  not  know  how  to  answer ;  he  looked 
at  Gregory's  wife,  trying  to  establish  a  bond  of 
helpful  smypathy  between  himself  and  her,  the  two 
normal  people  in  that  room,  but  she  immediately 
looked  away  in  her  scared  and  nervous  fashion. 
Calthorpe  then  saw  that  Gregory  was  watching  him 
with  a  malicious  sarcasm  that  startled  Calthorpe  for 
a  moment  into  the  belief  that  he  was  actually  grin- 
ning, although  no  grin  was  there.  Thus  startled, 
he  began  to  speak,  hurriedly,  confining  himself  to 
the  practical. 

"Of  course,  you  must  take  some  time  off,  Silas ; 

this  week  will  be  very  trying  for  you,  and  very  busy 

too;  there  will  be  the  inquest  and  the   funeral." 

("Why  did  I  say  that?"  he  thought  to  himself.) 

"We  shall  all  want  to  make  it  as  easy  as  possible  for 

you,  and  the  men  will  be  glad  to  take  turns  at  your 

job.    You  mustn't  worry  about  that.     Supposing  I 

give  you  a  week?"     Seeing  that  Silas's  lips  curled 

with  what  he  took  to  be  disdain,  he  thought  that  per- 

12 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

haps  his  offer  had  been  inadequate,  and  added  to  it, 
"and  your  brother  of  course  would  be  given  the 
day  of  the  funeral,  and  if  at  any  other  time  you  want 
him,  Silas,  you  have  only  to  ask  me;  I  shouldn't  be 
hard  on  you." 

"We  don't  want  any  time  off,"  Silas  replied  un- 
graciously. 

**You  know  that  it  is  customary  ..."  said  Cal- 
thorpe.  Customary!  he  clung  to  the  word;  it  gave 
him  a  sense  of  security.  'It  is  customary,"  he  re- 
peated, ''in  the  case  of  death,  or  sickness,  or  acci- 
dent, to  release  such  near  relatives  as  are  employed 
at  the  factory.  You  needn't  think  you  would  be 
accepting  a  special  favour." 

"Why  should  I  think  that,  Mr.  Calthorpe?" 

Calthorpe  knew  from  the  instant  defiance  in  the 
blind  man's  tone  that  he  must  make  no  allusion  to 
Silas's  disability;  he  said,  "Well,  the  sad  circum- 
stances of  your  wife's  death  .  .  ." 

"She  brought  me  my  dinner  as  usual,"  said  Silas 
suddenly ;  "she  sat  with  me  in  the  shed  while  I  ate  it, 
down  by  the  railway,  like  she  always  did,  because 
afterwards  she  used  to  bring  me  back  to  my  work, 
and  then  carry  the  plate  and  things  home.  Just 
like  every  other  day.     When  I'd  done  she  took  me 

13 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

back  and  left  me  in  the  shops;  I  didn't  know  any- 
thing more.  After  I'd  been  there  two  or  three  hours 
they  came  and  told  me.  They  said  she'd  been  found 
on  the  railway  line.  I  don't  know  how  long  she'd 
been  there,  or  why  she  didn't  start  off  for  home  at 
once.  Perhaps  she'd  been  waiting  for  the  fog  to 
lift;  there  was  a  fog  to-day,  wasn't  there?  and  any- 
way I  could  feel  it  in  my  breath  without  her  telling 
me  so.  It  was  extra  thick  down  on  the  railway. 
Perhaps  she  waited  for  it  to  lift.  Or  perhaps  she 
was  waiting  to  meet  somebody  in  the  shed." 

''Waiting  to  meet  somebody,  Silas  ?" 

*T'm  a  blind  man,  Mr.  Calthorpe,  and  she  was  a 
blind  man's  wife." 

Calthorpe  saw  that  Gregory's  wife  had  ceased  her 
little  clatter  with  the  supper-things,  and  was  stand- 
ing as  though  stupefied  beside  the  supper  table,  her 
fingers  resting  on  its  edge.  Now  she  moved  again, 
setting  a  kettle  on  the  range. 

"I  knew  nothing  till  hours  after  she  left  me — two 
or  three  hours,"  Silas  reverted.  "Nothing  until 
they  came  and  told  me.  I'd  been  working  all  the 
afternoon.  She  left  me  at  the  door  of  the  shops, 
Mr.  Calthorpe,"  he  said;  "she  didn't  come  in  with 
me." 

14 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"No,  no;  I  see,"  said  Calthorpe. 

"Sometimes  she'd  come  in  for  a  chat;  she  was 
friendly  with  my  mates,  friendly  with  Donnithorne 
specially.  He'd  come  here  sometimes,  Sundays, 
wouldn't  he,  Gregory  ?  But  to-day  she  didn't  come 
in.  No.  She  said  she  had  a  bit  of  mending  to  do  at 
home;  that's  it,  a  bit  of  mending.  She  wanted  to 
get  home  quick." 

"Then  why  should  you  think  she  waited  to  meet 
anybody  in  the  shed?"  asked  Calthorpe. 

"That's  only  my  fancy;  I'm  a  blind  man,  Mr. 
Calthorpe ;  I  couldn't  have  seen  who  she  waited  for, 
or  who  she  met.  Gregory  could  have  seen.  But  / 
couldn't,  and  Gregory  wasn't  there.  You  know  he 
works  inside  the  factory,  Mr.  Calthorpe,  and  I  work 
in  the  shops  down  by  the  railway-sheds,  tying  up 
the  boxes." 

"I  know;  you're  a  grand  worker,"  said  Calthorpe. 
He  was  afraid  of  Silas.  He  saw  with  relief  that  the 
clergyman  had  come  down  from  the  upper  room, 
and  was  standing  on  the  lowest  step  of  the  stairs 
where  they  opened  into  the  kitchen. 

"I  knew  nothing,"  Silas  went  on  with  a  rising 
voice.  "Funny,  that  a  man's  wife  should  be  lying 
across   railway  lines,   and  the  man  not  know   it. 

15 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

Husband  and  wife  should  be  one,  shouldn't  they? 
But  I  never  told  her  my  secrets.  Women  don't 
understand  men's  secrets.  I  don't  hold  with  women, 
Mr.  Calthorpe,  they're  lying  and  deceitful  animals; 
you  can't  trust  them  out  of  your  sight,  and  as  I 
haven't  any  sight  it  stands  to  reason  I  can't  trust 
them  at  all.  But  husband  and  wife  should  be  one 
all  the  same,  so  they  say.  Dutiful  and  patient  and 
faithful,  that's  what  women  ought  to  be,  but  they're 
only  artful.  Perhaps  I'll  be  better  without  one. 
ril  get  a  man  to  share  the  house  with  me,  and  lead 
me  about  when  I  need  it ;  I  know  a  nice  young  chap 
who'd  be  glad." 


II 


"My  poor  friend,  your  sorrow  has  thrown  you  off 
your  balance,"  said  the  clergyman  as  he  came  for- 
ward and  laid  his  hand  upon  Silas's  shoulder. 

'That's  you,  Mr.  Medhurst?"  said  Silas,  in- 
stantly recognising  the  voice,  which  indeed  was  un- 
mistakable. "You've  prayed  over  her;  well,  I  hope 
she's  the  better  for  it.  Heaven  send  me  a  parson  to 
pray  over  me  when  my  turn  comes,  that's  all  I  say." 

"My  poor    friend,"   the   clergyman   said   again, 
16 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"pray  rather  to  Heaven  now  that  you  be  not  em- 
bittered by  your  affliction.  Let  us  call  forth  our 
courage  when  the  test  comes  upon  the  soul;  let  us 
pray  to  be  of  those  whose  courage  is  steadfast  even 
unto  death.  The  lot  of  man  is  trouble  and  affliction, 
and  He  in  His  Mercy  hath  appointed  our  courage  as 
the  weapon  wherewith  to  meet  it." 

"That's  a  help,  isn't  it,  Mr.  Calthorpe?"  said  Silas, 
"that's  a  great  help,  that  thought.  Is  that  what  you 
say,  Mr.  Medhurst,  to  a  man  that's  going  to  the 
gallows?  What  do  you  tell  him — to  feel  kindly 
towards  his  jailers,  the  judge  who  condemned  him, 
the  jury  that  found  him  guilty,  the  police  that  ar- 
rested him,  the  man  or  woman  he  murdered,  the 
teacher  that  taught  him,  the  mother  that  bore  him, 
and  the  father  that  begot  him  ?  You  tell  him  not  to 
curse  them  all, — eh?  You  tell  him  to  feel  kindly 
and  charitable  like  you've  told  me  to  be  long-suffer- 
ing under  my  blindness  and  to  have  courage  now 
my  wife's  dead, — eh?  you  tell  him  that?" 

"I  am  not  a  prison  chaplain.  Dene,"  said  Mr. 
Medhurst,  stiffly,  removing  his  hand  which,  how- 
ever, he  immediately  replaced,  saying  with  compas- 
sion, "My  poor  friend,  my  poor  friend!  you  are 
sorely  tried." 

17 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"There's  worse  things  than  death,  Mr.  Medhurst," 
Silas  exclaimed,  and  he  sprang  up  as  though  the 
clergyman's  touch  were  unendurable  to  him,  and 
stood  in  front  of  the  range,  having  felt  his  way 
rapidly  across  the  room.  Mr.  Medhurst  followed 
him,  but  Silas  heard  him  coming,  and  moved  away 
again,  behind  the  table.  Mr.  Medhurst  turned  to 
Calthorpe  with  a  gesture  of  resignation,  saying  in  a 
low  voice,  "These  poor  fellows !  we  must  be  tolerant, 
Calthorpe,"  and  Gregory  continued  to  watch  the 
movements  and  gestures,  which  he  could  understand, 
although  he  could  not  hear  their  speech.  "Look 
here,  sir,"  Silas  began  again,  "I  didn't  know  of  the 
accident,  not  till  hours  afterwards,  as  I've  been  tell- 
ing Mr.  Calthorpe, — is  Mr.  Calthorpe  still  here?" 

"Yes,  Silas,  I'm  still  here,"  said  the  overseer. 

"Ah,  I  thought  I  hadn't  heard  the  door.  Well,  I 
was  in  the  shops,  and  they  told  me  at  five  o'clock. 
When  they  came  to  tell  me,  I  asked  what  time  it 
was,  and  they  told  me,  five  o'clock.  Now  it  was 
two  o'clock  when  I  finished  my  dinner;  I  asked 
Hannah,  and  she  told  me,  two  o'clock.  That's 
three  hours,  sir.  Mark  that.  She'd  been  on  that 
line  three  hours  before  her  husband  knew  it.  Is 
that  right,  when  husband  and  wife  should  be  one?" 

18 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"They  told  you  directly  she  was  found,  Dene/' 
said  the  clergyman.    "No  one  is  to  blame." 

"I'm  blaming  no  one,"  said  Silas  sullenly,  "I  only 
ask  you  to  mark  it,  sir:  three  hours.  Three  hours 
before  I  knew." 

"Why  does  he  insist  on  that  point?"  thought 
Calthorpe. 

"Fm  alone  now,  a  lonely  man  and  a  blind  one. 
The  inquest  now, — must  you  have  an  inquest?" 

"We  are  all  equal  before  the  law,"  said  Mr.  Med- 
hurst  in  a  gentle  and  reproving  voice. 

"And  I  have  to  go  to  it?" 

*T  am  afraid  so.  Dene." 

"Well,  I'll  tell  them  what  I  told  you :  it  was  three 
hours  before  I  knew.  She  was  alive  at  two  o'clock, 
when  she  left  me,"  said  Silas  with  great  violence, 
striking  his  fist  upon  the  table  and  glaring  round 
the  room  with  his  sightless  eyes;  "you've  all  heard: 
three  hours, — ^you,  Mr.  Medhurst,  and  you,  Mr.  Cal- 
thorpe, and  you,  Hambley,  and  you.  Nan.  Come 
here.  Nan." 

Gregory's  wife  went  to  him,  like  a  dog  to  a  cruel 
master;  he  had  thrust  his  fingers  through  his  black 
hair,  and  looked  wild.  He  groped  for  her  shoulder ; 
clutched  it  firmly. 

19 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"Tell  Gregory,  Nan;  tell  him  she  had  been  dead 
three  hours  before  I  knew." 

Gregory's  wife  made  swift  passes  with  her  fingers 
to  her  husband,  who  read  the  signs  and  answered  in 
the  same  language. 

"He  says  you  told  him  that  when  you  first  came 
in,  Silas."     She  had  a  clear  and  gentle  voice. 

"You  hear  that,  Mr.  Medhurst?  you  hear,  Mr. 
Calthorpe  ?  I  told  my  brother  that  when  I  came  in. 
Fm  alone  now;  I  had  a  son,  but  I  don't  know  where 
he  is ;  I  had  a  daughter  too,  but  she  went  soon  after 
her  brother.  I  stand  alone;  I  don't  count  on  no- 
body." 

"Come,  Dene ;  I  respect  your  sorrow,  but  I  cannot 
hear  you  imply  that  your  children  deserted  you: 
you  were  always,  I  am  afraid,  a  harsh  father."  Mr. 
Medhurst  spoke  in  the  reprimanding  tone  that  he 
could  assume  at  a  moment's  notice;  it  was  shaded 
with  regret,  as  though  he  spoke  thus  not  from  a 
natural  inclination  to  find  fault,  but  from  a  pressure 
of  duty. 

"Why  don't  you  say  that  I  was  harsh  to  Hannah?" 

demanded  Silas.    Mr.  Medhurst  made  a  deprecatory 

movement  with  his  hands;  he  would  not  willingly 

bring  charges  against  a  man  already   in  trouble. 

20 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

**Why  don't  you  say  so?"  repeated  the  blind  man, 
upon  whom  the  movement  was  naturally  lost. 

"Since  you  insist,"  said  the  clergyman,  *T  must 
say  that  the  whole  village  knew  you  were  not  always 
very  kind  to  your  wife;  in  fact,  I  have  spoken  to 
you  myself  on  the  subject." 

"I  knocked  her  about;  I'd  do  the  same  to  any 
woman,  if  I  was  fool  and  dupe  enough  to  take  up 
with  another  one,"  Silas  said. 

His  pronouncement  left  the  room  in  silence;  his 
blind  glare  checked  the  words  on  the  lips  of  both 
the  clergyman  and  the  overseer;  he  still  stood  en- 
trenched behind  the  table,  his  sinewy  hand  gripping 
Nan's  small  shoulder,  for  she  dared  do  nothing  but 
remain  motionless,  neither  cowering  away  nor 
moving  closer  to  him,  but  keeping  her  eyes  bent 
upon  the  floor.  An  oil-lamp  swung  from  the  ceiling 
above  the  table.  Gregory  watched  them  all  in  turn, 
from  his  chair  beside  the  oven;  he  was  really  grin- 
ning now,  and  seemed  more  in  the  mood  to  defend 
his  brother's  quarrels  with  his  fist  than  to  take  any 
interest  in  the  visible  terror  of  his  wife.  Nor  did 
she  appear  to  expect  championship  from  him.  She 
had  not  thrown  him  so  much  as  one  appealing 
glance.    Living  between  the  two  brothers,  she  might 

21 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

almost  have  forgotten  which  of  the  two  was  her 
husband  and  which  her  brother-in-law;  in  fact,  it 
had  been  whispered  in  the  village  that  the  mode  of 
life  in  the  Denes'  cottage  was  such  as  to  lead  the 
woman  into  that  kind  of  confusion, — but  those  who 
spoke  so  were  the  ignorant,  who  disregarded  or  else 
knew  nothing  of  the  pride  and  jealousy  of  the 
Denes. 

*T  didn't  knock  her  about  so  cruelly  as  the  train," 
said  Silas,  laughing  wildly. 

"O  Lord!"  Mr.  Medhurst  began,  clasping  his 
hands,  "look  with  mercy  upon  this  Thy  servant, 
that  in  the  hour  of  his  trial  ..." 

"Trial?  what's  that?"  cried  Silas.  "An  inquest 
isn't  a  trial,  that  I'm  aware?" 

".  .  .  that  in  the  hour  of  his  trial  he  may  rise 
above  the  sorrows  of  the  flesh  to  a  more  perfect 
understanding  of  Thy  clemency.  .  .  ." 

"It's  just  babble,"  said  Silas,  who  was  shaking 
now  with  rage  from  head  to  foot. 

"Save  him,  O  Lord,  from  the  mortal  sin  of  pro- 
fanity; endow  him  with  strength  righteously  to  live, 
bringing  him  at  the  last  out  of  the  sea  of  peril  into 
the  calm  waters  of  that  perfect  peace  .  .  ." 

"You  so  smooth  and  righteous,  sir,  I  wonder  it 
22 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

doesn't  shock  you  to  see  a  woman  battered  in  like 
Hannah's  battered  now ;  yet  you  went  and  said  your 
prayers  over  her;  fairly  gloated  over  her,  perhaps?" 

*'Look,  O  Lord,  with  mercy  upon  this  Thy  poor 
distraught  but  faithful  servant.  Consider  him  with 
leniency;  mercifully  pardon  ..." 

"Look  here,"  Silas  cried,  "the  Lord'll  hear  your 
prayers  just  as  well  if  they're  put  up  from  your 
parsonage.  This  is  my  cottage,  and  my  affairs  are 
my  affairs ;  what  I  do,  or  what's  sent  to  me,  and  how 
I  take  it,  is  my  affair.  I've  always  held  that  a  man 
was  a  thing  by  himself,  specially  when  he's  in 
trouble;  he  isn't  forced  to  be  the  toy  of  sympathy, 
and  of  help  he  doesn't  want.  Let  me  alone.  I 
'don't  want  your  prayers,  Mr.  Medhurst.  I  don't 
want  your  holiday,  Mr.  Calthorpe.  I'll  be  at  my 
work  to-morrow  morning  same  as  I  always  am — 
same  as  I  was  to-day  after  my  wife  died,  though, 
mark  you,  I  didn't  know  it.  I  don't  whine,  so  I 
don't  want  you  to  do  my  whining  for  me.  No.  I 
never  missed  a  day  at  my  work  yet,  and  though  I'm 
blind  I  work  to  keep  myself,  and  I'll  look  after  my- 
self, and  my  rights,  blind  as  I  am, — I'll  not  be  de- 
ceived, not  I.  'Poor  blind  Silas.'  Don't  let  me 
hear  you  say  that.    Perhaps  I  know  more  than  you 

23 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

think,  and  guess  the  rest."  He  went  off  into  a  string 
of  mumblings,  and  a  slight  foam  of  saliva  appeared 
at  the  corners  of  his  mouth. 

"It's  no  good  staying  here,  Mr.  Medhurst,"  said 
Calthorpe,  trying  to  get  the  clergyman  away. 

"You  speak  to  him,  Calthorpe." 

"I'll  try. — Here,  Silas,  you  don't  hate  me?"  said 
Calthorpe,  going  up  to  the  blind  man. 

"No;  you're  a  well-meaning,  ordinary  sort  of 
chap,"  replied  Silas. 

"Yes,  I  don't  want  to  be  anything  else.  Now  see 
here,  if  you  think  work  will  keep  your  mind  off 
things,  you  must  come  to  work;  but  if  you  want  to 
stop  away,  you  can  stop  away  for  a  week.  Is  that 
clear?" 

"I'll  come  to  work.  A  man's  got  a  right  to  decide 
for  himself,  hasn't  he?" 

"Of  course  he  has;  but  don't  be  too  hard  on 
yourself.  Don't  get  mulish.  You  don't  look  right 
somehow.  You're  all  out  of  gear;  small  wonder 
just  now,  but  you  know  as  well  as  I  do  that  you're  a 
bit  ill-balanced  at  the  best  of  times.  Take  it  easy, 
Silas." 

"You  mean  well,  I  dare  say." 

"Yes,  I  swear  I  do;  don't  say  it  so  grudgingly. 
24 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

See  here :  cling  on  to  your  political  grievances,  man ; 
they'll  take  your  mind  off  your  own  troubles." 

"I  know  how  to  bear  my  own  troubles." 

*'rm  only  giving  you  a  hint;  get  angry  over 
something.  Go  down  and  make  one  of  your  speeches 
to  the  debating  society.  I  don't  share  your  views, 
and  I  disapprove  of  your  methods,  because  they 
stir  up  trouble  amongst  the  men,  but  I'd  like  to 
think  that  something  was  helping  you." 

**Chatter!"  said  Silas  suddenly. 

"You're  too  damned  scornful,"  said  Calthorpe 
flushing.  "All  right  then;  fight  it  out  with  yourself. 
Snarl  at  your  mates,  and  scare  the  women.  Make 
yourself  lonelier  than  you  already  are,  you  poor 
lonely  devil." 

Silas  laughed  at  that,  and  some  of  the  hostility 
went  out  of  his  face. 

'Thanks,  Mr.  Calthorpe.  I'll  be  at  work  to- 
morrow .    Going  now  ?* ' 

"Mr.  Medhurst  and  I  are  both  going — unless  you 
want  us  to  stay?" 

"No,  I  don't  want  you  to  stay." 

"No  ill-feeling,  Silas?" 

"None,  if  you  mean  because  you  mislaid  a  bit  of 
your  temper.'* 

25 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

III 

Nan  opened  the  door  for  Mr.  Medhurst  and  Cal- 
thorpe,  who  passed  out  together  and  were  immedi- 
ately lost  to  sight  in  the  fog.  In  the  winter  months, 
fog  hung  almost  continuously  over  that  low,  fenny 
country;  white  fog;  billowy,  soaking  mist.  Little 
wraiths  of  it  swirled  into  the  kitchen  as  she  opened 
the  door,  so  she  shut  it  again  quickly, — she  did 
everything  quickly  and  neatly.  For  one  moment 
of  panic  she  wished  she  could  have  gone  with  Cal- 
thorpe,  who  was  kindly,  commonplace,  and  easy, 
instead  of  remaining  alone  with  those  two  violent 
and  difficult  men,  and  the  dead  body  of  her  sister- 
in-law  upstairs.  She  was  weary  of  the  strain  that 
never  seemed  to  be  relaxed  in  their  cottage. 

*'Next  time  that  canting  parson  comes  here,  I'll 
lay  hands  upon  him,"  said  Silas. 

"Will  I  get  supper  now?"  asked  Nan,  trying  to 
distract  him. 

What  a  packet  of  folk  we  had!"  Silas  broke  out; 
"it  was  rat-tat  at  the  door  all  the  time,  till  the  whole 
village  had  passed  through,  I  should  say." 

"Folks  are  kindly,"  said  Nan. 

"Folks  are  curious,"  barked  Silas. 
26 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

She  sighed,  but,  knowing  better  than  to  remon- 
strate, resumed  her  question. 

*'Will  you  have  supper  now,  Silas?"  and  she  re- 
peated the  question  on  her  fingers  to  Gregory. 
"We'll  eat  with  you,  Silas,  to-night.  Gregory  and  I, 
— we'll  be  there  whenever  you  want  us.  I'll  do  the 
house  for  you,  and  your  cooking.  We'll  all  eat  to- 
gether, so  long  as  you  want  us  to."  She  was  gentle 
and  bright. 

**I  don't  want  your  pity." 

She  busied  herself  with  getting  the  supper  out  of 
the  oven,  carrying  the  hot  dishes  carefully  with  a 
cloth.  Gregory  watched  her,  pivoting  in  his  chair 
to  follow  her  movements.  Once  he  talked  to  her  on 
his  fingers:  "Don't  you  take  no  notice  of  Silas;  he 
looks  queer  to-night,"  and  when  she  answered, 
"Small  wonder,"  a  broad  grin  distorted  his  dark 
face.  His  bones  and  features,  strongly  carven,  in 
conjunction  with  the  muscularity  of  his  body  and  the 
perpetual  silence  to  which  he  was  condemned,  made 
him  appear  like  a  man  cast  in  bronze.  He  was, 
moreover,  singularly  still;  he  would  sit  for  hours 
without  stirring,  his  arms  folded  across  his  chest; 
he  never  betrayed  what  he  was  thinking,  but  the 
others  knew  that  it  was  always  about  machinery. 

27 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

Silas,  on  the  other  hand,  was  far  more  excitable ;  he 
was  always  occupied;  his  mind  had  many  trains  of 
thought  which  it  pursued;  Nan  never  knew  which  of 
the  two  brothers  she  found  the  more  alarming,  and 
life  had  become  for  her  an  uneasy  effort  to  conciliate 
them  both.  She  had  hesitated  before  speaking  of 
supper ;  meals  seemed  to  accord  badly  with  tragedy. 

Silas  talked  unceasingly ;  he  talked  with  his  mouth 
full  and  many  phrases  were  unintelligible.  Now 
and  then  he  mumbled,  now  and  then  raised  his 
voice  to  a  shout.  He  thundered  assertions,  and 
spat  questions  at  Nan.  Gregory  sat  crumbling 
bread  and  sneering  at  her  distress.  She  w^as  dis- 
tressed because  Silas  was  in  one  of  his  most  up- 
roarious moods,  launching  opinions  on  his  diverse 
subjects,  every  one  of  which  readily  attained  the 
proportions  of  an  obsession  in  his  mind;  and  she 
was  distressed  further  because  she  had  all  the  while 
the  alienating  sensation  that  her  husband  under- 
stood his  brother  better  than  she  did,  although  he 
could  hear  no  word.  She  sat  between  them,  eating 
very  little,  while  they  ate  voraciously.  She  was 
thinking  of  Hannah,  who  lay  upstairs. 

Once  she  asked  a  question.  "Who'll  you  get, 
Silas,  to  live  with  you  now?'' 

2S 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"Linnet  Morgan.  He's  anxious  to  find  handy 
lodgings." 

"Linnet  Morgan.  That's  the  chap  newly  in 
charge  of  the  scents?  Would  he  live  with  just 
working-people  like  us?" 

"What's  the  difference?" 

Nan  could  not  define  it.  She  had  not  intended  a 
challenge,  but  Silas  had  a  trick  of  treating  every- 
thing as  a  challenge. 

"He's  soft,"  she  said  at  last. 

"He'll  learn  not  to  be  soft  here." 

Towards  the  end  of  the  supper,  Silas  fell  into  one 
of  his  silences  that  were  little  less  alarming  than 
his  speech.  He  sat  over  the  range,  chewing  his 
pipe.  Nan,  having  cleared  away  the  supper,  made 
herself  small  with  some  sewing  in  a  corner. 
Gregory,  looming  hugely  about  the  low  room,  dis- 
posed his  drawings  on  the  table  under  the  direct 
light  of  the  hanging  lamp.  They  were  on  oiled 
paper,  pale  blue,  pale  pink,  and  white;  large  sheets 
of  exact  drawings  of  exquisitely  intricate  machinery. 
He  bent  over  them,  handling  pencils,  rulers,  small 
compasses,  and  other  neat  instruments  of  his  craft 
with  a  certain  and  delicate  touch.  He  had  clamped 
the  drawings  to  the  table  with  drawing  pins,  holding 

29 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

down  the  curling  corners,  smoothing  out  the  shine 
of  the  folds.  He  was  lost  at  once  in  them,  for- 
getting both  his  own  observant  mockery  and  the 
tragedy  which  had  seized  and  shaken  his  rela- 
tions in  its  rough  grasp.  He  was  lost  in  his 
silent  world  of  smooth-sliding  precision  and  per- 
fection. 

His  drawing  was  his  hobby,  not  his  profession; 
he  guarded  it  from  the  outside  world  as  a  secret,  and 
in  the  factory  perversely  clung  to  the  meanest  and 
most  strenuous  physical  labour.  When  his  wife 
protested — with  more  politeness  than  indignation — 
his  fingers  ran  in  emphatic  oaths.  When  his  ma- 
chines were  ripe  to  be  shown,  he  would  lay  them 
before  the  whole  board  of  directors;  yes,  he  would 
startle  those  gentlemen;  but  until  then  he  would  be 
a  workman,  wheeling  the  barrels  of  liquid  soap  to 
the  vats,  beating  and  stirring  it  in  the  vats  when  it 
needed  cooling, — nothing  more. 

He  worked  under  the  light  of  the  lamp,  mak- 
ing here  a  dot  of  correction,  there  a  measure- 
ment of  infinitesimal  exactitude.  His  great  fingers 
touched  as  delicately  as  those  of  a  painter  of  minia- 
tures. 

The  kitchen  clock  ticked  in  the  stillness. 
30 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

IV 

Nan  rose  presently,  heaping  her  sewing  into  her 
large  open  basket.  Her  husband  was  still  absorbed 
in  his  drawings,  and  Silas  in  his  meditations,  over 
which  he  muttered  and  scowled.  He  seemed 
to  be  conducting  an  argument  with  himself,  for  his 
lips  moved,  he  nodded  or  shook  his  head,  and  tapped 
his  fingers  upon  his  knee.  Nan  hesitated  before 
disturbing  him.  But  she  knew  that  she  must  warn 
him  before  she  left  the  room,  for  he  could  com- 
municate with  Gregory  only  with  difficulty.  She 
put  her  hand  on  his  shoulder. 

"Eh?  what's  that?"  said  Silas,  starting;  he  had 
been  very  deeply  lost  in  his  thoughts. 

"I'm  going  to  our  cottage  for  a  bit,  Silas,  to  put 
things  straight  there;  I'll  be  back  presently." 

"Gregory's  here,  isn't  he?" 

"Yes,  he's  got  his  drawings  out  on  the  table." 

Silas  grunted,  and  Nan,  after  wrapping  a  muffler 
round  her  head  and  mouth,  let  herself  out  of  the 
front  door. 

In  her  own  kitchen,  which  was  identical  with 
Silas's  in  the  other  half  of  the  cottage,  she  stood 
breathing  with  a  sense  of  relief.    Ah !  jf  she  might 

31 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

remain  there !  But  she  might  not ;  Silas,  who  fought 
all  the  time  against  her  sympathy  and  her  minis- 
trations, Silas,  in  spite  of  that  ungracious  ferocity, 
was  now  dependent  upon  her  and  could  not  be  for- 
saken. Responsibilities  by  a  cruel  irony  thrust 
themselves  upon  her  weakness.  She,  who  had  so 
much  need  of  protection,  must  protect. 

She  must  not  idle  here. 

She  began  rapidly  clearing  away  the  disorder  of 

the  day,  raking  out  the  fire,  and  drawing  the  short 

curtains  across  the  little  windows.     She  took  her 

husband's  boots  into  the  scullery  at  the  back  of  the 

kitchen,  and  set  them  ready  to  be  cleaned  the  next 

morning.     She  went  upstairs  with  a  candle,  turned 

down  the  bed,  drew  the  curtains  there  too,  and 

tidied  the  dressing-table.     Through  the  partition  in 

the  next  cottage  was,  she  knew,  a  similar  bedroom, 

and  in  that  bedroom,  where  Silas  and  Hannah  had 

slept  every  night  for  twenty-five  years  and  where 

Hannah's  two  children  had  been  born,  the  remains 

of  Hannah  now  lay,  covered  over  with  a  sheet,  and 

Hannah,   brawny,  loud-voiced,  tyrannical  towards 

her  sister-in-law,  bullied  by  Silas,  at  times  sullen 

and  at  times  nosily  recalcitrant  towards  him,  would 

no  longer  go  about  the  house  as  a  working-woman, 

32 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

her  sleeves  rolled  up,  an  apron  over  her  dress,  clat- 
tering pails  and  mops,  ordering  stray  children  off 
her  whitened  doorstep.  Nan  had  not  loved  Hannah, 
but  she  thought  it  horrible  that  Hannah  should  be 
lying  through  that  thin  partition,  in  the  disfigure- 
ment of  which  the  men  had  whispered. 

She  wished  that  she  dared  arrange  to  sleep  in 
another  room,  but  Gregory  would  be  angry. 

She  finished  her  work  as  quickly  as  she  could 
and  returned  to  Silas's  cottage;  only  a  couple  of 
yards  separated  front-door  from  front-door,  but, 
shivering,  she  pressed  her  muffler  against  her 
mouth  to  keep  out  the  fog.  The  light  and 
warmth  were  welcome  again  as  she  slipped  into 
the  kitchen. 

Silas  had  not  heard  her.  Gregory  had  his  back 
to  the  door  and  did  not  see  her.  He  was  still  bend- 
ing over  his  drawings,  all  unaware  that  Silas  stood 
near  him,  speaking,  a  wild  and  reckless  look  upon 
his  face. 

"You  can't  hear  me,   Gregory,  old  man.     Old 

brother  Gregory,   wrapped  up   in  your  drawings! 

How  much  do  you  know,  hey  ?    How  much  do  you 

guess  ?    /  did  it — you  know  that,  hey  ?    She  laughed 

at  me — with  Donnithorne.      She  played  the  dirty 

33 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

on  me — with  Donnithorne.  I  hated  her,  but  I've 
got  my  honour  to  look  after.  I  shan't  tell  anybody, 
only  you,  old  man.  Tell  you  I  did  it — ^hey?  Don't 
tell  anybody,  Gregory  1" 


34 


Ill 


I 

Calthorpe  and  Mr.  Medhurst  had  entered  into  a 
conspiracy  to  spare  Silas  from  attending  the  inquest. 

As  they  walked  away  from  the  Denes'  cottage 
together,  in  the  fog,  they  did  not  speak  for  some 
time.  They  were  turning  the  same  thoughts  over 
in  their  minds  as  they  paced  side  by  side  down  the 
village  street,  seeing  the  lights  in  the  windows  on 
either  hand  very  dimly  through  the  fog.  The  lan- 
tern which  Calthorpe  carried,  swaying,  lit  up  a  pale 
milky  circle  but  cast  no  forward  ray.  They  were 
chilled;  little  drops  of  moisture  gathered  on  the 
clergyman's  eyebrows  and  on  Calthorpe's  brown 
beard;  their  very  footfalls  seemed  to  be  muffled  by 
the  fog. 

*'It  was  warmer  in  Dene's  kitchen,  Calthorpe!" 
said  the  clergyman  at  last,  handling  his  chilblained 
fingers  tenderly,  and  then  beating  his  hands  to- 
gether in  their  thick  woollen  gloves. 

35 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"Yes,  sir,  but  I'd  sooner  be  out  here  than  in  that 
unhealthy  sort  of  atmosphere, — Hke  that  poor  little 
woman.  I  think,  if  you  ask  me,  the  fog  was  thicker 
in  that  room  than  it  is  out  here.  I  scarcely  liked  to 
come  away  leaving  her  there.  I  never  saw  any  one 
look  more  out  of  place.  And  so  resigned,  too ;  never 
a  thought  of  revolt.  But  not  glum,  not  pulling  a 
long  face;  that's  what  touched  me." 

"No  doubt  she  enjoys  sufficient  philosophy  and 
religion  to  accept  with  a  brave  fortitude  the  lot  she 
has  herself  chosen,"  said  Mr.  Medhurst. 

Calthorpe,  who  had  been  feeling  slightly  ex- 
alted and  full  of  a  chivalrous  emotion,  the  novelty 
of  which  surprised  him  agreeably,  thought  that 
Mr.  Medhurst  laid  hands  of  lead  upon  a 
butterfly. 

"Well,  I  thought  there  was  something  lighter 
about  her  than  that,  somehow,"  he  said,  struggling; 
but  as  the  clergyman  remained  rigid,  with  a  com- 
passionate murmur  of  "Poor  soul !"  he  turned  to 
another  subject.  "Silas  Dene  seemed  more  excitable 
than  usual,  sir;  they  are  strange  fellows,  those  two, 
and  you  never  know  how  they  are  going  to  take 
things.     Silas's  readings  work  upon  his  mind;  he's 

full  of  queer  theories.     No  doubt  you've  noticed, 

36 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

Mr.  Medhurst.  First  he's  off  on  one  hobby-horse, 
and  then  another.  PoHtics,  death,  women,  fate, 
science,  even  poetry — he's  got  his  views  on  them 
all ;  not  lukewarm  views,  or  ready  to  listen  to  argu- 
ment, as  you  or  I  might  be,  but  loud,  aggressive 
views,  and  contradiction  only  makes  him  angry. 
He  fairly  bullies  the  village;  I  don't  know  how  he 
does  it,  but  all  the  chaps  are  too  much  afraid  of  him 
to  turn  upon  him."  Calthorpe  came  at  last  with  a 
rush  to  the  real  point  he  had  in  sight,  and  said,  "I 
thought  his  manner  more  than  usually  queer  to- 
night ;  queerer,  I  mean,  even  than  the  circumstances 
warranted?" 

**Yes;  his  irreverence — I  might  almost  say  his 
blasphemy — was  very  painful  to  hear;  but  we  must 
remember,  he  is  sorely  tried." 

Calthorpe  grunted. 

"I  wasn't  considering  it,  sir,  only  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  church,"  he  suggested. 

They  had  reached  the  little  gate  leading  to  the 
Rectory,  and  Mr.  Medhurst  stood  with  his  hand  on 
the  latch.  The  breath  of  the  two  men  eddied  like 
smoke  in  the  fog  above  the  pallid  light  of  Calthorpe's 
lantern.  Mr.  Medhurst  repressed  his  desire  for  the 
shelter  of  his  own  study,  inhospitable  as  it  was;  so 

Z7 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

faint  a  stirring  could  scarcely  be  dignified  by  the 
name  of  desire,  but  such  as  it  was  he  repressed  it, 
recognising  an  enemy;  personal  inclinations  were 
allowed  no  place  in  a  life  of  monotonous  mortifi- 
cation ;  his  conscience  ordered  him  to  remain  out  in 
the  raw  evening  until  Calthorpe  had  finished  saying 
whatever  he  might  have  to  say,  so  he  remained. 
Suavity,  patience,  tolerance,  impartiality;  above  all, 
no  self-indulgence. 

"Yes,  Calthorpe?"  he  prompted. 

"That  man's  not  in  a  fit  state  to  attend  an  inquest/' 
the  overseer  brought  out. 

"Ah.  No,  perhaps  not,"  said  Mr.  Medhurst,  and 
then,  startled,  "You  don't  mean  .  .  ." 

"Good  gracious,  sir,  I  don't  mean  anything, — only 
to  spare  the  man.  It's  a  clear  enough  case  of  acci- 
dent," muttered  Calthorpe.  "I'm  only  afraid  he'll 
lose  his  head  if  he's  brought  to  the  inquest;  begin 
to  rant  on  all  his  pet  topics,  do  himself  harm  very 
likely;  be  talked  about;  give  a  bad  name  to  the  fac- 
tory; perhaps  lose  his  job.  The  Board  is  very 
particular.  And  I  can't  help  having  a  liking  for 
Silas  Dene;  he's  a  sound  worker,  he's  full  of  pluck, 
he  doesn't  drink  as  many  men  would  under  his 

circumstances.    I  can't  help  having  a  respect  for  the 

38 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

man.  He's  something  out  of  the  ordinary.  Can't 
we  keep  him  away  from  the  inquest,  Mr.  Med- 
hurst?'* 

* 'Unfortunately,  he  was  the  last  person  to  see  his 
wife  alive." 

"I  think  I  can  get  round  the  coroner,  sir,  if  you'll 
back  me  up."     Calthorpe  was  quite  eager. 

*T  will  certainly  lend  you  my  support,"  said  the 
clergyman  rather  dubiously.  ''After  all,  it  is  a  clear 
case  of  accident,  as  you  say,  and  the  inquest  will 
only  be  a  formal  affair.  I  suppose  it  is  really  a 
clear  case,"  he  added,  "but  his  manner  was  very 
peculiar." 

"There  now,  sir,"  said  Calthorpe,  pouncing  on 

him,  delighted  to  have  proved  his  point,  "you  know 

Silas  Dene  as  well  as  I  do,  and  we  both  trust  him, 

yet,  having  seen  him  in  this  state,  you're  aware  of 

the  beginnings  of  doubt;  what  about  the  coroner, 

who  comes  out  from  Lincoln,  and  has  never  heard 

of  Dene  or  his  record  before?    I  tell  you,  we  must 

keep  the  man  away.    It's  only  decent,  only  Christian. 

The  man's  blind  in  more  ways  than  one;  we  must 

see  for  him,  and  keep  him  from  hitting  his  head 

against  a  wall." 

"No  doubt  you  are  right;  I'll  help  you.     Send 
39 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

for  me  when  you  want  me,  Calthorpe;  good- 
night." 

"Good-night,  sir;  thank  you." 

Calthorpe  hurried  away  with  his  lantern  into  the 
fog;  Mr.  Medhurst  let  himself  in  at  his  front  door. 
He  wondered  whether  he  had  been  too  hasty  in 
leaving  Calthorpe,  whether  he  ought  not  to  have 
inquired  more  thoroughly  into  the  overseer's  exact 
meanings.  Had  his  wish  for  creature  comfort  re- 
laxed the  vigilance  he  kept  over  his  conscience? 
In  any  case,  it  was  too  late  now  for  regrets.  With  a 
sigh  he  laid  his  coat,  his  clerical  hat,  his  muffler  and 
his  gloves  on  the  sideboard  in  his  narrow  hall,  and, 
passing  into  his  study,  held  a  match  to  the  gas-jet 
above  his  table.  A  small  pop  of  explosion  resulted 
in  a  thin  blue  flame.  No  fire  burnt  in  the  grate;  Mr. 
Medhurst  never  permitted  himself  a  fire  until  seven 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  by  the  clock  he  saw  that 
it  was  only  half -past  six.  He  blew  upon  his  fingers, 
trying  to  warm  them.  For  a  few  moments  he  knelt 
in  prayer  for  guidance  at  his  black  horsehair  sofa, 
then,  rising,  he  drew  his  chair  up  to  the  writing-table 
and  began  to  deal,  methodically,  with  a  pile  of  his 
papers.     He  had  pigeon-holed  Silas  Dene  already 

in  the  files  of  his  mind. 

40 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

II 

Silas  Dene  came  to  the  inquest  in  spite  of  Cal- 
thorpe's  intervention,  Mr.  Medhurst's  collaboration, 
and  the  coroner's  acquiescence. 

He  had  agreed  not  to  come;  he  had  been  surly 
and  ungracious,  but  finally  had  given  his  consent 
and  had  even  added  a  word  of  conventional  grati- 
tude. He  had  given  a  written  affidavit,  which  was 
read  at  the  inquest  before  his  arrival.  All  evidence 
had  been  taken,  that  of  Dene's  mates,  of  the  driver 
of  the  truck-train, — the  fog  had  been  very  thick  at 
the  level-crossing,  and  he  couldn't  see  five  yards 
ahead  of  him, — that  of  the  shunters  who  had  found 
the  body  lying  across  the  rails.  All  had  gone 
smoothly  in  unbroken  formality ;  the  inquest  was  held 
in  the  village  concert-room,  with  the  body  lying  next 
door;  Calthorpe  was  there,  Mr.  Medhurst,  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  board  of  directors,  and  many  of  the 
factoryhands  who  out  of  curiosity  had  interpolated 
themselves  as  possible  witnesses;  the  proceedings 
were  nearly  over,  and  the  verdict  about  to  be  pro- 
nounced, when  after  a  fumbling  at  the  door  Silas 
Dene  appeared  suddenly  in  the  room. 

He  was  alone,  and  in  the  unfamiliar  room  he 

stood  stock  still,  solitary,  detached  and  startling; 

41 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

isolated  as  a  man  who  has  vast  spaces  around  him, 
regardless  of  the  cheap  pitch-pine  walls  that  actually 
confined  him.  He  was  bare-headed,  in  his  working- 
clothes,  as  rugged  as  the  bole  of  a  storm-wrecked 
tree  on  the  borders  of  a  great  plain.  All  gazed  at 
him,  and  the  coroner  ceased  speaking. 

Silas  broke  the  silence  to  say,  in  a  restrained  but 
threatening  voice, — 

*Ts  this  the  inquest? — I  came  here  by  myself," 
he  went  on;  *T  was  in  the  shops.  I  know  Mr.  Cal- 
thorpe  persuaded  me  not  to  come.  Then  I  changed 
my  mind.  I  thought  I'd  like  to  hear  for  myself. 
Will  some  one  take  me  to  a  place?" 

They  were  amazed  at  his  feat  of  travelling  un- 
escorted from  the  shops  where  he  worked,  to  the 
heart  of  the  village,  and  mysteriously  this  achieve- 
ment increased  their  fear  of  him,  enriching  it  with 
a  bar  of  superstition.  Calthorpe  led  him  to  a  central 
chair,  near  the  coroner,  so  that  he  stood  in  the  middle 
of  the  room,  with  his  hand  on  the  back  of  the  chair. 
He  would  not  sit. 

"This  is  very  irregular,"  said  the  coroner,  *T  know 

of  no  precedent  for  this,  but  of  course  there  is  no 

reason  why  Dene  should  not  attend  the  rest  of  the 

inquest  if  he  wishes.    There  will  be  no  need  for  me 

42 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

to  call  him  as  a  witness  now;  he  attends  as  a  specta- 
tor only.  Dene,  your  affidavit  was  read  earlier  in 
the  proceedings." 

"I  want  to  speak,"  said  Silas. 

"If  there  is  anything  you  want  to  say,  Dene.  ..." 

Silas  stood  erect  at  his  full  height,  ignoring  the 
chair  to  which  he  had  been  led ;  he  had  on  his  most 
truculent  expression.  Calthorpe  was  dismayed,  but 
knew  his  own  impotence.  There  was  a  natural 
force  in  Silas  that  was  not  to  be  thwarted.  He  made 
other  men  seem  puny;  only  his  brother  Gregory 
matched  him,  and  Gregory  was  not  there. 

"Fd  like  to  hear  the  verdict  returned  first,  if 
youVe  reached  it,"  said  Silas. 

The  coroner  shrugged  his  shoulders,  annoyed  and 
perplexed,  then  said, — 

"Perhaps  that  would  be  as  well.  With  the  re- 
turning of  the  verdict  the  inquest  is  over,  and  any- 
thing you  may  like  to  say  afterwards  will  be  in 
the  nature  of  a  private  address,  not  one  held  in  a 
coroner's  court." 

He  put  the  usual  questions,   and  a  verdict  of 

"Death  by  Misadventure,"  was  returned,  with  a  rider 

of  sympathy  to  the  widower  "in  the  peculiarly  sad 

circumstances  of  his  bereavement." 

43 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"Death  by  Misadventure,"  Silas  repeated  slowly; 
everybody  listened  in  greedy  anticipation;  the  acci- 
dent and  the  inquest  both  provided  succulent  mate- 
rial for  the  curiosity  of  the  vulgar,  and  to  batten 
upon  the  exposed  passions  of  a  fellow-being — and 
that  fellow-being  a  Dene! — was  an  excitement,  a 
treat,  albeit  an  alarming  treat,  full  of  surprise  and  of 
that  quality  of  danger  never  very  far  removed  from 
all  manifestations  of  the  Denes.  The  audience  bent 
forward,  with  a  slight  rasping  of  chair-legs  on  the 
wooden  floor;  they  gazed  at  Silas  as  though  he 
were  an  animal  at  bay,  devouring  him  all  the  more 
shamelessly  that  they  knew  he  could  neither  see 
them  nor  read  the  unthinking  hunger  on  their  faces. 
He  was  the  centre  of  mystery  and  alarm  in  the  vil- 
lage, emerging  from  his  darkness  and  seclusion  only 
to  terrorise.  Celebrated  as  an  orator  at  the  village 
debating  society,  the  men  never  knew  whether  to 
regard  him  as  a  leader,  an  enemy,  or  an  ally.  But 
here  his  heart,  and  not  his  theories,  was  concerned ! 

His  first  words  startled  them  beyond  their  hopes 
of  gratification, — 

"Are  you  so  sure?"  He  had  intoned,  but  now, 
seeking  effect  with  the  skill  of  a  natural  speaker, 
he  dropped  his  voice  a  full  octave  as  he  swung  out 

44 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

into  the  current  of  his  theme,  "It  seems  to  me  a 
paltry  sort  of  thing,  to  die  by  misadventure.  A  pal- 
try ending,  to  be  taken  away  willy-nilly,  like  a  brat 
from  a  party !  Why,  a  man  might  be  leaving  many 
things  incompleted,  many  things  he  had  set  his  heart 
on  doing  before  he  died.  Death  by  misadventure! 
I  wouldn't  set  much  store  by  the  man  that  couldn't 
look  after  his  own  life  better  than  that,  owning 
himself  the  sport  when  he  ought  to  be  the  master. 
It's  a  shameful  thing  to  be  beaten.  It's  a  shameful 
thing  to  give  up  your  right  of  choice.  Death  by 
misadventure !  a  blunder,  a  clumsy  mismanagement, 
a  failure  to  carry  through  to  the  end,  that's  all." 

His  audience  was  amazed  at  the  scorn  he  con- 
trived to  infuse  into  what  was,  to  them,  nothing  but 
a  trumped-up  thesis.  They  could  not  admit  that  this 
unexpected,  unnecessary,  far-fetched  thesis  could  be 
anything  other  than  trumped-up.  Even  Silas  Dene, 
full  of  surprising  opinions  as  he  was,  could  not, 
with  the  longest  plumb-line,  have  discovered  such 
an  opinion  as  this  anchored  in  the  wells  of  his  heart. 
He  must  be  joking  at  their  expense — deluding  him- 
self, perhaps,  in  his  effort  to  delude  them.  A  prac- 
tical joker,  Silas;  even,  it  would  appear,  over  his 

wife's  body ! 

45 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

He  had  paused  after  his  preamble,  gathered  all 
his  thoughts  up  into  his  grip,  and  began  to  deal 
them  out  to  his  audience. 

"Suicide,  now — ^there's  nobility  in  that.  That's 
grand.  That's  escape;  true  escape  from  a  prison. 
The  man  who  doesn't  care  a  damn  for  his  own  life 
is  no  prisoner.  I  call  him  the  contemptuous  man. 
He's  a  conquerer ;  he's  free.  How  many  of  you  have 
got  that  freedom?  and  how  many  have  got  snivel- 
ling, timorous  little  spirits  that  cling  on  to  their 
miserable  breath  as  a  treasure  ?  So  long  as  you  do 
that  you're  bound  slaves  and  prisoners.  There's  no 
escape  for  you. 

"You're  angry  ?  I  shouldn't  bait  you  and  gibe  at 
you?  Every  one  of  you  is  man  enough  to  live  up 
to  my  principles?  Well,  the  floods  are  out;  they're 
handy;  there's  nothing  to  prevent  any  one  of  you 
from  proving  his  manhood  and  his  independence. 
The  floods  over  the  fields,  and  there's  the  Wash  for 
anybody  who'd  like  something  a  bit  deeper." 

He  launched  this  invitation  at  them  with  a  trivial 
insolence.  "He's  mad,"  they  said,  and  shrugged, 
crossing  their  arms  in  resignation,  but  they  were 
troubled  for  all  that;  he  was  poking  fun  at  them,  a 
grim  kind  of  fun,  and  their  annoyance  increased  as 

46 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

they  remembered  his  superiority  over  them:  one 
couldn't  answer  Silas  Dene,  he  had  read  too  many 
books,  he  returned  fire  with  too  many  arguments 
and  quotations.  He  stood  there  now,  apparently 
ready  to  go  on  talking  for  ever,  his  only  difficulty 
abiding  in  the  variety  of  his  topics,  which  to  choose 
and  which  to  discard.  A  little  smile  played  across  his 
lips  as  he  paused,  mentally  turning  over  his  wares, 
and  surveying  the  audience  which  he  could  not  see. 
^'That's  suicide.  I  see  no  reason  why  the  man 
who,  so  to  speak,  has  always  got  his  finger  on  the 
trigger  of  his  revolver  and  the  muzzle  of  the  revol- 
ver tapping  between  his  teeth,  should  fear  any  pain 
or  hazard.  He  has  his  way  of  escape  always  open. 
But  there's  a  braver  man  than  that,"  he  said  loudly, 
"the  man  who  abstains  from  the  death  he  doesn't 
fear.  Not  from  religion,  not  from  thoughts  of  the 
hereafter;  simply  from  contempt  of  the  easy  path. 
Too  proud  to  avail  himself  of  the  remedy  he  has 
at  hand.  All  of  you  who  have  troubles,"  he  said, 
pointing  his  finger  at  them  and  letting  it  range  from 
side  to  side,  sweeping  across  their  rows  as  they  sat, 
"wouldn't  you  like  to  shake  off  those  troubles  by  the 
easy  way?  never  to  suffer  any  more?  to  leave  the 
responsibility  to  others?" 

47 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

They  could  scarcely  believe  that  a  few  minutes 
previously  he  had  been  inviting  them  to  cast  them- 
selves into  the  floods. 

'T  should  roar  with  derision  at  the  man  who  killed 
himself  to  escape  his  pain,"  he  went  on,  as  though 
possessed  by  a  demon  of  mockery,  a  cold  demon  that 
enjoyed  goading  their  bewilderment.  Mr.  Med- 
hurst  frankly  thought  him  diabolic ;  Calthorpe  won- 
dered whether  he  was  in  his  right  mind.  "I  have  the 
right  to  speak  of  it,"  he  exclaimed,  suddenly  angry; 
'T  spend  my  life  in  darkness;  let  any  one  dare  to  say 
that  I  have  got  no  right  to  speak  of  pain !  I  don't 
complain  or  ask  for  pity;  I  don't  want  pity.  I'll  fight 
against  pity  so  long  as  I  have  breath,  your  pity 
insults  me.  But  I  can  speak,  because  I  know  death 
as  well  as  any  man  who  has  once  stood  on  the  gal- 
lows with  the  rope  round  his  neck  and  been  reprieved 
at  the  last  moment.  I've  leant  across  the  border 
like  one  leans  across  a  ditch,  and  touched  fingers 
with  death,  and  then  drawn  back  my  hand.  You 
can't  say  as  much.  But  shall  I  tell  you  something?" 
he  added  sombrely.  ''I  mistrust  myself,  whether  I 
have  that  true  freedom ;  am  I  truly  the  contemptuous 
man?    I  wonder!  but  I  wonder  without  very  much 

confidence." 

48 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

They  were  impressed,  and  as  he  ceased  speaking 
they  remained  very  still;  the  men  thought  "Poor 
devil!"  and  the  women  shivered.  Calthorpe  saw 
that  Nan  was  straining  forward  in  her  place,  her 
breath  coming  quickly,  and  her  eyes  full  of  tears. 
As  she  caught  his  glance  she  murmured,  *'0h,  can 
no  one  get  him  away?"  but  Calthorpe  shook  his 
head,  for  Silas  had  already  begun  to  speak  again. 

Ill 

"That's  for  suicide,  and  that's  against  suicide, 
and  the  more  you  think  about  it  the  more  you'll 
be  obliged  to  think  about  it.  Then  there's  another 
thing  to  think  about  and  talk  about :  murder." 

This  time  his  audience  was  really  startled;  Nan 
gave  a  cry,  and  Calthorpe  saw  that  she  had  grown 
pale,  and  that  deep  lines  had  appeared  at  either  cor- 
ner of  her  mouth.  He  made  a  movement  to  go 
and  sit  beside  her,  but  at  the  same  time  Linnet  Mor- 
gan shifted  into  a  chair  just  behind  her,  and  whis- 
pered to  her  over  her  shoulder,  so  Calthorpe 
remained  where  he  was.  Mr.  Medhurst  got  up  and 
pointedly  left  the  building.  The  coroner  coughed 
and  said,  "Really,  Dene,  you  know  .  .  ." 

"I  thought  you  told  me,  sir,"  said  Silas  in  his 

4  49 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

most  insolent  manner,  "that  this  would  cease  to  be  a 
coroner's  court  after  the  verdict  had  been  returned  ?" 
The  coroner  made  no  answer  to  this,  but  began 
turning  over  his  papers  in  order  to  conceal  his  an- 
noyance, and  after  waiting  a  minute  Silas  continued, 
"Murder  ...  No  one  will  deny  that  there's  as 
much  courage  in  murder  as  in  suicide.  Oh,  not  in 
the  actual  fact,  I  grant — many  of  you  would  say 
there's  no  courage,  but  only  a  sort  of  brutal  cowar- 
dice, in  murdering  a  man  unawares,  or  worse  still 
in  murdering  a  woman, — no  courage  needed  to  push 
a  woman  under  a  train! — no,  there's  no  courage  in 
the  actual  fact,  but  what  about  the  forethought  of 
it?  the  first  idea,  the  scheming  and  the  planning, 
the  daily  watching  of  the  chosen  victim,  hey?  you 
must  come  to  a  grand  pitch  of  hatred  before  you  can 
look  at  warm  living  limbs  and  think  T'll  turn  you 
to  the  cold  of  death!'  Life's  great;  I've  a  great 
respect  for  life.  Life's  rich  and  warm  and  mani- 
fold, and  lies  outside  the  bestowal  of  man.  That's 
why  I've  so  high  a  regard  for  life :  there's  wealth  in 
it,  that  we  can't  bestow  the  same  as  we  can  take 
away.  That's  why  I  say  there's  courage  in  murder 
just  as  there  is  in  suicide, — courage  in  assuming 
that  liability. 

50 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"And  consider  the  afterwards, — the  courage  in 
keeping  silent  afterwards.  The  man  would  be  living 
with  a  secret  that  took  him  by  the  arm  as  he  walked 
down  the  street,  whispering  in  his  ear,  and  that 
snatched  bits  off  his  fork  at  meal-time  as  he  lifted 
the  fork  to  his  mouth, — a  playful  familiar  secret. 
It'd  jolt  his  elbow  at  the  first  sign  of  forget  fulness. 
It'd  come  out  with  him  on  Sundays,  jaunty.  .  ,  . 
He'd  know  that  by  a  word  he  could  turn  his  invisible 
mate  into  a  visible  thing  for  every  man  to  see.  The 
deed  wouldn't  be  finished  with  the  moment  the  deed 
was  done.  Oh  no !  Crime  would  be  easy  enough  to 
the  man  who  had  no  memory.  But  memory  has 
long  wiry  fingers  to  prod  us  under  the  ribs.  .  .  . 

"Soberly,"  he  continued  changing  his  voice,  "let 
us  think :  it  would  be  simple  for  any  one  to  murder 
my  wife.  They  could  do  it  in  my  presence;  I'm 
blind;  I  should  be  none  the  wiser.  Let  us  suppose 
that,  after  she  left  me  at  the  shops  that  day,  some  one 
had  seized  on  her  and  dragged  her  away  towards  the 
level  crossing;  she  could  have  held  out  her  arms 
towards  me  for  rescue,  but  I  should  have  known 
nothing — nothing!  That's  all  perfectly  plausible. 
But  who  should  have  had  a  sufficient  grudge  against 
my  wife?    I'm  going  through  the  names.  .  .  ." 

51 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

A  real  protest  was  about  to  be  raised  against  this 
hideous  entertainment,  when  a  commotion  arose : — 
Nan  Dene  had  fainted. 

IV 

*'Not  surprising!"  said  the  woman  in  commiser- 
ation, peering  at  her  where  she  lay  on  the  floor, 
"pore  little  soul !"  "Better  get  her  home,"  said  the 
men,  and  meanwhile  the  representative  of  the  direc- 
tors' board  took  Silas  firmly  away  from  the  hall. 
"Where's  Gregory?"  asked  some  one;  "At  the  fac- 
tory," some  one  else  replied,  and  Calthorpe,  pushing 
through  the  throng,  said  "Here,  let  me  carry  her." 
"Mr.  Morgan's  got  her,  sir,"  said  a  voice,  and  Cal- 
thorpe saw  Morgan  rising  from  his  knees  with  Nan 
drooping  limply  in  his  arms. 

Great  indignation  was  expressed  against  Silas  as 
the  factoryhands  came  in  little  groups  out  into  the 
street.  In  the  wan  January  sunlight  Nan  was  al- 
ready being  hurried  away  in  Morgan's  careful  clasp 
towards  her  own  cottage,  followed  by  two  women. 
Silas  was  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  his  back 
against  a  house,  in  an  attitude  of  defiance,  talking  to 
the  director,  who  looked  restrainedly  indignant.  Silas 

called  out  suddenly,  pointing  with  his  finger  across 

52 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

the  street,  *'0h,  I  can  hear  you  whispering!  why 
not  say  it  out  loud:  Silas  Dene  ought  to  be  sup- 
pressed? but  I've  been  a  good  friend  to  you  in 
strikes  and  troubles,  and  it's  always  been,  'Get  Silas 
Dene  to  speak  for  us/  .  .  ." 

''Hush,  hush,  Dene!"  said  the  director;  "you're 
not  quite  yourself;  walk  up  and  down  with  me  for  a 
little."  He  took  Silas  by  the  arm  and  forced  him  to 
walk  up  and  down,  talking  to  him  all  the  time  in  an 
earnest  and  persuasive  undertone.  The  men  and 
women  lingered  in  their  groups  about  the  concert- 
room  door,  whispering  together  and  watching  Silas, 
but  Calthorpe  came  amongst  them  and  ordered  them 
away.  He  was  peremptory  and  irritable  as  they  had 
rarely  seen  him. 


53 


IV 


I 

The  fog  persisted,  turning  the  world  to  a  strange 
and  muffled  place,  and  seeming  by  its  secrecy  to 
favour  the  evil  deeds  of  men.  Within  its  shroud  a 
man  bent  on  dark  purposes  might  creep  unobserved 
by  his  fellow-beings.  It  could  be  imagined  to  breed 
such  purposes,  as  miasmic  places  breed  fantastic 
lights  and  unwholesome  growths.  It  was  the  more 
oppressive  because  it  had  no  tangible  weight;  only 
the  moral  weight,  and  the  obscuring  of  vision.  It 
was  a  foul-playing  foe,  insidious  and  feline,  not  to 
be  lifted  by  strength,  or  countered  by  resistance. 
It  was  stealthily  horrible,  as  the  destroyer  of  clarity, 
setting  itself  mutely  but  quite  implacably  against 
all  bright  and  manifest  things,  against  the  procla- 
mation of  the  sun  and  the  sweet  glory  of  the  breeze. 
Like  an  influence  that  intentionally  confuses  clear 
thought  and  strong  endeavour,  discolouring  all  that 

is  pure,  fostering  all  that  is  obscure  and  fungoid,  it 

54 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

made  more  difficult  the  road  of  the  traveller,  and, 
waiting  ever  outside  the  doors  of  houses,  tried  to 
slip  in  its  unwholesome  presence  through  any  crack 
of  door  opened  to  admit  it.  It  wreathed  strangely 
around  the  corners  of  houses  so  entered.  The  in- 
habitants of  Abbot's  Etchery  spoke  of  it  as  a  living 
thing.  ''He's  terrible  thick  to-day,"  they  said,  or 
else,  "He's  not  thinking  of  going  away  from  us  as 
yet.** 

II 

On  the  higher  ground  beyond  the  marshes  the  air 
was  clear  from  fog.  Here  were  knolls  surmounted 
by  clumps  of  beech-wood,  the  ground  beneath  the 
trees  rusty  with  last  year's  leaves,  and  the  trunks  of 
the  beeches  themselves  bare,  lofty,  and  processional, 
their  clubbed  heads  shaven  against  the  winter  sky. 
From  these  knolls  one  looked  down  over  the  brown 
mirror  of  the  floods,  that  surrounded  the  block  of 
the  village  with  the  factory  and  the  ancient  abbey, 
and  that  were  crossed  until  the  eye  lost  it  in  dis- 
tance by  the  great  dyke  carrying  the  road  and  the 
perspective  of  stark  telegraph  poles.  But  this  was 
only  when  the  fog  had  lifted.  When  the  fog  lay 
heavy,  one  looked  down  upon  a  white  plain  of  cloud, 

55 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

blackened  by  a  great  smear  and  a  fading  trail  where 
the  smoke  of  the  factory-chimneys  rose  to  mix  with 
it  (the  chimneys  whose  summits  sometimes  reared 
themselves  through  the  fog  like  three  giant  fingers) , 
and  concealing  beneath  it  who  could  tell  what  stress 
and  labour,  what  hope  or  suffering,  what  secrecy 
of  purpose,  what  web  of  mingled  and  obscurely  tend- 
ing lives  ? 

On  the  higher  ground  amongst  the  beeches  stood 
the  big  Georgian  house  belonging  to  Malleson,  a 
director  of  the  factory  and  local  squire  of  the  dis- 
trict. It  was  built  to  turn  its  back  upon  the  flooded 
region,  and  from  the  front  windows  and  colonnaded 
facade  the  view  stretched  away  over  the  gentle  rise 
and  fall  of  the  midland  country,  the  dun  fields, 
clumps  of  bare  trees,  grey  sky,  and  cawing  rooks, — 
a  landscape  in  dead  and  uneventful  levels.  Malleson 
was  very  well  satisfied  with  it.  His  wife 
was  not.  Malleson  found  satisfaction  in  the 
dark  tangle  of  the  sleeping  hedgerow  and 
the  dying  brake,  and  was  happy  if  with 
gun  and  spaniel  he  might  wait  at  the  top  of  a  ride 
for  the  bolt  of  a  rabbit,  or  might  stand  watching 
woodcutters  at  their  cleavage,  and,  passing  on,  come 

upon  a  plough-team  of  his  own  horses  straining 

56 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

across  the  shoulder  of  a  hill  under  a  wide  heaven. 
He  was  content  to  lean  over  a  gate  looking  across  a 
bean-field,  for  so  long  a  while  that,  like  some  ani- 
mals, he  took  on  the  colour  of  his  surroundings;  a 
hare  ran  amongst  the  beans,  sat  listening  upon  its 
haunches,  then  ran  again  a  little  farther;  a  jay 
flashed  blue  between  two  clumps  of  hawthorn, — but 
Malleson,  whose  interest  was  professional,  and  who 
would  never  have  owned  to  a  more  sentimental 
satisfaction,  did  not  like  jays  in  his  woods  any  better 
than  the  presence  of  hares  among  his  young  beans. 
Christine  Malleson,  his  wife,  hated  the  country, 
hated  the  Midlands,  hated  Malleson  Place,  Malle- 
son's  spaniel,  Malleson's  friends,  Malleson's  rela- 
tions, clothes,  politics,  point  of  view,  position  in  the 
county,  religion,  appearance,  conversation,  and  occu- 
pations. The  only  thing  she  liked  about  him  was 
his  money.  In  very  early  days,  fifteen  years  ago, 
before  she  knew  better,  she  had  given  him  a  son; 
but  in  the  horror  of  that  one  experience, — which 
had,  progressively,  infringed  upon  her  comfort,  out- 
raged her  vanity,  terrified  her  nearly  out  of  her  wits 
in  one  brief  concentrated  nightmare,  and  finally 
drawn  down  upon  her  the  irony  of  Malleson's  joy, 
and  of  remarks  designed  to  please  her,  smiling,  con- 

57 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

gratulatory,  immemorial,  consecrated,  fatuous, — all 
that  had  taught  her  never  to  allow  the  experiment 
to  be  repeated.  The  months  that  Malleson  obliged 
her  to  spend  in  the  country  were  one  long  sulky  lassi- 
tude; she  rarely  set  foot  beyond  the  garden,  and  in 
cool  weather  spent  her  days  in  overheated  rooms; 
discontented  and  fastidious,  picking  up  a  book,  read- 
ing the  beginning,  and,  if  that  interested  her,  turn- 
ing to  read  the  end,  but  always  too  languid  to  read 
the  middle;  sleeping  on  her  sofa  after  luncheon, 
resting  after  tea,  amusing  herself  by  frequent  change 
of  clothes,  sometimes  staring  out  of  the  window 
while  her  be-ringed  hand  held  back  the  muslin  cur- 
tain, watching  for  the  post  that  might  cheer  her 
by  bringing  some  phrase  of  flattery  or  homage, 
after  which  event  remained  only  the  long  empty 
hours  before  she  found  herself,  arrived  there  by 
some  monotonous  law  of  routine,  sitting  at  dinner 
opposite  Malleson. 

She  never  listened  to  what  he  said,  and  indeed 
when  they  were  alone  he  spoke  very  little.  She 
usually  leaned  her  head  upon  her  hand  as  though 
she  were  weary,  a  head  of  lovely  shape,  drooping 
gracefully;  and  picked  at  burnt  almonds,  or  held  a 
cigarette  to  her  lips,  for  she  had  a  habit  that  mad- 

58 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

dened  Malleson,  of  smoking  almost  throughout  a 
meal.  It  maddened  him,  yet  he  owned  that  his 
wife  was  a  very  graceful  woman,  sitting  there  lan- 
guid, spoilt,  indefinably  but  flowingly  dressed,  a 
woman  unlike  the  wives  of  other  country  squires, 
and  within  his  very  scrupulous  heart  he  contested 
that  he  preferred  her  thus,  that  a  woman  was  de- 
signed as  an  ornament,  not  for  the  sturdier  business 
of  companionship.  He  knew  that  she  despised  him, 
and,  humble,  accepted  her  estimate,  ranging  himself 
low,  not  putting  into  the  opposite  balance  the  esteem 
in  which  men  held  him.  Having  long  since  ceased 
to  think  that  his  conversation  might  attract  her 
attention,  only  his  loyalty  withheld  him  from  ad- 
mitting to  himself  that  he  looked  forward  to  the 
relief  of  the  moment  when  she  would  nod  to  him  and 
trail  out  of  the  room,  and  he  might  throw  his  legs 
over  the  arm  of  his  chair  with  a  pipe  and  a  book 
until  he  began  to  reflect  it  was  time  for  him  to  go 
to  bed. 

Ill 
She  listened  to  him,  however,  while  he  told  her 
about  the  inquest  he  had  that  day  attended.     She 
had  volunteered  an  inquiry,  and  when  he  said  in 

59 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

mild  surprise,  "My  dear,  it  never  occurred  to  me  to 
mention  it,  because  I  know  you  don't  care  much 
for  the  factory,"  she  repHed,  "You  may  as  well  tell 
me,"  thinking  how  little  discrimination  he  showed 
between  the  things  that  might  interest  her  and  those 
that  could  not  possibly  be  expected  to  do  so,  "Emma 
said  something  about  it  while  I  was  dressing." 
"Gossip,  of  course,"  he  said,  restrained  but  dis- 
pleased, and  she  shrugged  and  murmured,  "Prig. 

In  the  end  he  told  her,  though  without  enthusi- 
asm; and  the  story  stirred  the  rather  stagnant  pool 
of  her  curiosity.  One  or  two  of  his  phrases,  pro- 
nounced meditatively,  had  put  her  on  the  scent  of 
something  unusual,  something  that  might  while 
away  a  portion  of  the  dreary  time,  though  calling 
for  very  little  effort  on  her  part, — she  could  not  en- 
dure the  idea  of  effort.  "He  speaks  like  an  educated 
man,"  her  husband  had  said  of  the  blind  factory- 
hand,  "or  a  great  deal  better  than  most  educated  men 
speak,  and  I  believe  he  is  entirely  self-taught.  It 
appears  that  he  has  a  hunger  for  books  .  .  .  And  a 
born  speaker,  like  some  of  those  ranting  parsons 
one  hears  sometimes  talking  to  a  crowd  from  a  tub. 

All  the  makings  of  a  demagogue.     I  should  like  to 

60 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

assist  at  one  of  his  performances  at  the  debating 
society;  Calthorpe  gives  me  to  understand  that 
they're  remarkable.  He's  full  of  ideas — Utopian 
mostly — exposes  them  ably,  works  them  out  in  both 
scope  and  detail,  convinces  his  audience,  or  at  any 
rate  stirs  them — and  then  demolishes  the  whole 
fabric — out  of  pure  devilry.  I  wonder  what  the 
fellow's  mind  is  like  inside?  A  black  business,  I 
should  fancy!'* 

*T  have  heard  of  him  before,"  said  Lady  Malleson. 

*T  dare  say  he  is  merely  a  disgruntled  Socialist," 
said  Malleson,  who  was  already  ashamed  of  having 
been  led  away  into  such  speculative  wordiness. 

IV 
In  the  waste  of  hours,  after  that,  she  found  her 
thoughts  revolving  constantly  around  her  precon- 
ception of  Silas  Dene.  At  first  she  smiled  indul- 
gently to  herself  when  she  encountered  that  unknown 
but  quite  definitely  conceived  figure,  again  erect  and 
motionless  in  the  foreground  of  her  mental  vision; 
then  she  grew  resentful  of  the  unknown  man  who 
so  imposed  himself  upon  her  attention,  like  a  grave 
and  persistent  apparition,  bending  upon  her  his  un- 
faltering gaze.     So  long  as  he  remained  an  evoca- 

61 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

tion,  she  could  toy  with  him ;  fit  theories  on  to  him, 
like  an  artist  draping  a  lay  figure.  She  diverted 
herself  greatly  by  thinking  him  out  at  leisure,  order- 
ing and  re-ordering  the  procession  of  her  ideas;  it 
was  true  that  she  had  heard  but  little  about  him, 
yet  her  theories  were  clearly  formulated:  he  must 
be  a  self-conscious  man,  humorously  so  perhaps, 
(she  was  not  yet  certain  on  the  score  of  his  humour, 
trying  whether  she  liked  him  best  with  or  without 
it),  but  in  any  case  alarmingly  so;  but  whether  he 
had  control  over  the  trend  of  his  life,  as  would  seem 
to  be  indicated  by  his  raising  himself  by  his  own 
effort  above  the  intellectual  level  of  his  class,  or  the 
trend  of  his  life  over  him,  she  was  unable  to  decide. 
Was  he  that  being  for  whom  in  her  discontented, 
languid,  tentative  way  she  always  sought, — for  in 
her  endlessly  renewed  hours  of  idleness  she  dallied, 
not  unintelligently,  with  a  little  practical  philosophy, 
— was  he,  might  he  be,  that  being  who  lived  in  per- 
fect consciousness,  viewing  each  incident  of  life 
in  instant  proportion,  not  condemned  to  wait  for 
the  slow  drawing  out  of  years  into  perspective,  but 
calm,  secluded,  not  so  inhuman  as  to  escape  the 
passing  ruffle  of  moods,  nor  so  unreceptive  as  to 
escape  the  stimulus  of  new  influences,  but  on  the 

62 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

whole  sternly  planned,  continuous,  progressive, 
working  towards  a  goal,  not  drifting  towards  some 
end  unknown  and  concealed  within  the  uncertainty 
of  mists?  This  apprehension,  this  quality  of  being 
aware,  was  by  Christine  Malleson  so  greatly  envied, 
because  it  was  in  herself  so  totally  lacking.  What 
did  she  upon  earth  ?  what  track  would  she  leave,  did 
she  hope  to  leave  ?  she  could  not  have  replied.  Would 
she  find  in  a  blind  factory-hand  that  rarest  illumina- 
tion, flung  like  a  straight  ray  along  a  dark  road, — 
clearness  and  wholeness  of  vision  ?  She  knew  with- 
out being  told  that  he  would  prove  a  man  of  strong 
opinions;  that  much  might  be  said  of  many  men, 
but  would  he  have  taken  the  further  step,  and 
welded  the  scattered  material  into  a  system,  that 
could  be  a  weapon  of  defence  or  offence,  a  pix  so 
ably  constructed  as  to  appraise  the  worth  of  coin 
both  large  and  small  ?  Was  he  of  that  calibre  ?  She 
thought,  potentially  yes.  She  raised  her  cigarette 
to  her  lips,  watching  the  slim  blue  trail  of  smoke 
that  rose  without  wavering  in  the  warm  air  of  the 
draughtless  room.  Silas  Dene,  surely,  smoked  a 
pipe,  of  pungent  black  tobacco,  and  along  with  the 
specific  picture  of  him  ramming  in  the  shreds,  she 

played  with  the  idea  of  herself  as  the  wife  or  the 

63 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

mistress  of  such  a  man;  he  would  be  the  experiment 
in  a  fine  but  natural  metal,  dross  and  dirt  mingled 
with  the  gold  of  the  nugget.  She  allowed  herself 
to  drift  with  the  current  of  this  amusement;  she  was 
alone,  none  could  read  her  thoughts,  a  new  luxury 
was  precious  to  her  appetite  wearied  by  ennui,  and 
she  had  the  frankness  of  acknowledging  to  herself 
her  craving  for  any  new  sensation.  She  smoked  in 
long  inhalations,  more  concerned  with  the  thought 
of  what  she  might  do  to  Silas  Dene  than  with  the 
apprehension  of  what  Silas  Dene  might  do  to  her. 
She  would  like  to  bewilder  that  man.  She  would 
like  to  test  his  arrogance,  break  it  if  she  could.  She 
would  like  to  prove  to  him  that  his  control  of  life 
was  based  upon  no  true  security.  It  could  not  be 
so  based;  no  poor  human  could  be  truly  immune. 
They  might  think  themselves  immune  until  the  storm 
came  along.  Should  she  play  this  experiment,  under 
the  guise  of  Lady  Bountiful,  on  Silas  Dene? 
Should  she  indulge  her  curiosity  at  his  expense  ?  The 
first  unseemliness  of  the  idea  passed  away  with  sur- 
prising ease.  He  would  help  her  to  get  through 
the  weary  country  months.  She  had  tried  her  hand 
at  most  things,  this  would  be  something  new ;  some- 
thing, therefore,  amusing.  .  .  . 

64 


I 

Calthorpe  came  often  to  see  the  Denes  after  the 
inquest;  no  one  could  have  been  kinder,  more  con- 
siderate, or  more  attentive  than  Calthorpe. 

No  doubt  the  Denes  would  have  preferred  to  keep 
out  Calthorpe,  as  they  had  kept  out  every  one  else, 
but  he  was  the  overseer,  and  they  tolerated  him. 

He  came  on  Saturday  afternoons,  on  Sundays^ 
and  sometimes  on  ordinary  week-days,  during  the 
evening. 

He  would  spend  a  little  time  talking  to  Silas,  and 
then  he  would  knock  at  Nancy's  door  and  ask  her 
for  confidential  information. 

"Nobody  can  tell  me  so  well  how  Silas  is  getting 
on  as  you  can,  Mrs.  Dene,"  he  would  say;  **may  I 
come  in  for  a  minute?"  or  else  "would  you  stroll 
down  the  road?" 

Nan  never  strolled  down  the  road,  but  she  always 
let  him  into  her  kitchen  and  gave  him  a  chair  beside 
»  65 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

the  fire.  Sometimes  her  husband  was  there,  some- 
times he  was  not,  but  in  either  case  he  could  not 
affect  the  conversation.  Nan  told  Calthorpe  one 
day  how  it  had  taken  her  a  little  while  to  become 
accustomed  to  the  disabilities  of  the  brothers,  and 
to  remember  that  whereas  Silas  could  hear  and 
speak  but  could  not  see,  Gregory  could  see  but  could 
neither  hear  nor  speak. 

*T  used  to  stop  and  think;  now  of  course  I  know 
without  thinking.  And  really  you  wouldn't  believe 
how  one  can  get  on  with  Gregory:  I  talk  to  him 
with  my  fingers  like  I  talk  to  you  with  my  tongue, 
it's  no  bother.  He's  very  quick,  too,  at  under- 
standing." 

Calthorpe  had  already  noticed  that  she  never  lost 
an  opportunity  of  praising  her  husband  and  adver- 
tising her  own  contentment.  She  was  more  reticent 
about  her  brother-in-law,  and  when  once  Calthorpe 
asked  her  why,  she  replied  after  a  slight  hesitation. 

"Silas  can  speak  for  himself;  he  doesn't  need 
any  one  to  speak  for  him." 

''He  can  certainly  speak!"  said  Calthorpe.     ''Do 

you  remember  how  he  startled  us  all  at  the  inquest  ? 

why,  by  the  time  he'd  finished,  half  the  folk  were 

wondering  whether  they  shouldn't  throw  themselves 

66 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

into  the  floods,  and  the  other  half  whether  they 
shouldn't  go  home  and  strangle  their  families !" 

It  was  the  first  time  he  had  directly  mentioned 
the  inquest  to  Nan,  and  he  did  so  now  in  full  recol- 
lection of  the  effect  Silas's  speech  had  had  upon  her. 
He  had  hesitated  long  over  the  problem  whether  he 
should  ever  allude  to  it  or  no,  but  recognising  the 
subject  as  the  shadow  always  in  the  background  of 
their  talks,  he  had  decided  to  attack  it  openly,  his 
intent,  as  usual,  kindly. 

"It's  worried  you  a  good  deal,  I  know,"  he  added. 

"Oh,"  she  began,— he  knew  that  little  "Oh,"  by 
which  she  prefaced  her  remarks  and  which  always 
betrayed  her  nervousness, — "Oh,  I  don't  think  we 
ought  to  talk  about  it,  do  you?" 

"You  mean,  you  don't  want  to  talk  about  it  ?" 

She  got  up  in  a  restless  way,  and  busied  herself 
with  a  vase  of  wild  flowers  upon  the  dresser,  turning 
herself  so  that  her  face  was  hidden  from  him. 

"Mrs.  Dene,  you  don't  want  to  talk  about  it?" 

"Oh,  don't  drive  me,  please,"  she  murmured,  in  a 
voice  full  of  distress. 

Calthorpe  was  very  remorseful  to  feel  that  he  had 

been  the  cause  of  this  distress,  and  he  came  over 

to  the  dresser  where  she  stood  arranging  the  flowers. 

67 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"Very  well;  of  course  we  will  never  speak  of  it 
again,"  he  said,  trying  to  soothe  her,  but  knowing 
that  if  his  repentance  took  too  affectionate  a  form 
she  would  immediately  shy  away  from  him.  *'What 
are  you  doing  with  those  flowers?  look,  you  have 
upset  some  of  the  water!  here's  my  handkerchief 
to  mop  it  up  with.'* 

As  she  took  the  handkerchief  he  saw  that  there 
were  tears  on  her  cheek,  as  clear  as  the  drops  of 
water  she  had  spilt  from  the  flowers ;  but  with  his 
large,  rough  tact  he  pretended  not  to  notice. 

*  Where  did  you  find  so  many  flowers,  this  time 
of  year?  Primroses  in  February!  Catkins,  of  course, 
and  grasses,  and  a  sprig  of  plum  blossom  .  .  ." 

"And  some  wild  violets,"  she  said,  showing  him. 
"Smell  them,  how  sweet !" 

"Well,  I  wish  I  had  somebody  like  you  to  put 
flowers  about  my  place,"  he  said  in  a  rush  of 
sentiment. 

"Will  you  take  these?  Yes,  please!"  crushing 
them,  all  wet  as  they  were,  into  his  hands.  "I  got 
them  in  a  copse  over  by  Thorpe's  Howland  last 
Sunday,  I  walked  over  there  ..." 

"What,  by  yourself?" 

"No,  with  Silas  and  Mr.  Morgan;  it  was  Greg- 
68 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

ory's  Sunday  on  at  the  factory.  We  started  after 
dinner,  Silas  was  in  a  good  temper,  and  I  was  happy 
to  get  away  from  the  floods  for  a  bit.  You  know, 
there's  a  belt  of  higher  ground  away  there  to  the 
south,  which  never  gets  flooded.  It  was  nice  to  see 
the  green  again,  and  to  go  through  woods  where 
the  trees  didn't  stand  with  their  roots  soaking  and 
rotting  in  water.  I  hate  the  floods,  they're  so  cruel ; 
cruel  in  a  dull,  flat  sort  of  way  .  .  .  Gregory  likes 
them;  they  make  him  grin.  Of  course,  Silas  can't 
see  them,  but  if  he  could  I'm  certain  he'd  like  them 
too;  he's  always  asking  me  to  tell  him  just  what 
they're  like.  But  that  Sunday  he'd  forgotten  about 
them.  He  was  as  cheerful  as  could  be,  repeating 
poetry  all  the  time  as  we  went  along  the  lanes;  he 
kept  stopping  and  saying  "Now  listen  to  this  1"  and 
waving  time  with  his  stick  as  he  recited,  and  Mr. 
Morgan  kept  capping  what  he  said,  and  they  laughed 
a  lot,  trying  to  outdo  each  other."  She  smiled  at  the 
recollection,  leaning  with  her  back  against  the 
dresser;  then  Calthorpe  saw  the  smile  disappear 
from  her  lips  as  though  at  another  darker  remem- 
brance, and  the  scared  look  came  into  her  eyes. 
"Well?"  he  prompted. 

"Oh.     Well,   then  we   went  on  till   we   got  to 
69 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

Thorpe's  Howland,  and  we  made  Silas  sit  under  a 
beech-tree  while  we  looked  for  primroses.    .    .    /' 

**You  and  Linnet  Morgan?" 

"Yes,  I  and  Mr.  Morgan.  Silas  sat  under  the  tree 
for  a  bit,  pulling  up  the  moss  all  round  him ;  then  he 
got  up  and  leant  against  the  tree-trunk,  saying  more 
poetry;  Shakespeare,  I  think  it  was.  Mr.  Morgan 
beckoned  to  me  to  come  and  listen,  so  we  crept  up  on 
tiptoe,  and  Silas  went  on  like  that  for  about  half  an 
hour;  I  don't  know  how  he  manages  to  keep  it  all 
in  his  head.  I  don't  like  it  so  much  when  he  starts 
his  poetry  in  the  kitchen,  but  in  the  wood  it  seemed 
all  right ;  it  might  have  been  part  of  the  wood,"  she 
said,  lowering  her  voice  and  hanging  her  head  with 
her  pretty,  sudden  shyness,  and  scrutinising  her 
finger  nails. 

*'How  do  you  mean :  part  of  the  wood?" 

*'Well, — ^there  was  a  lot  of  patchy  sunlight  on  the 

ground,  coming  through  the  trees,  and  the  moss  that 

Silas  had  torn  up  smelt  bitter, — like  earth, — and  the 

primroses  smelt  soft  and  sweet.    There  was  the  sort 

of  big  sand-pit  in  the  bank,  where  we  had  picked 

them.     There  were  the  trees,  so  gray  and  naked. 

There  was  Silas, — Mr.  Morgan  whispered  to  me  that 

Silas  looked  like  a  tree  himself,  a  tree  that  had 

70 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

been  blasted  by  lightning,  and  when  he  said  that, 
I  saw  he  was  right;  even  Silas's  arms,  waving  about, 
were  like  the  branches." 

"Well,  well!"  said  Calthorpe,  scratching  his  chin. 

"Mr.  Morgan's  like  a  son  to  Silas  already,"  she 
went  on;  "he's  gay  with  him,  and  he's  as  gentle  as  a 
woman.  He's  never  put  out  by  Silas's  ways — never 
seems  to  notice  them,  in  fact.  And  Silas  likes  him 
because  he  can  talk  to  him  by  the  hour  about  all  the 
things  he  thinks  about  and  reads  about." 

"But  Silas  always  talks  to  everybody." 

"Yes,  he's  so  greedy  for  an  audience  that  he'll  put 
up  with  never  getting  a  sensible  answer,  sooner  than 
not  talk  at  all.  But  Mr.  Morgan's  got  education; 
he'll  argue  with  Silas;  he's  like  a  whetstone  to  a 
knife.  He'll  get  Silas  into  a  proper  excited  rage,  and 
then  laugh,  and  Silas  takes  it  in  good  part.  It  was 
a  grand  day  when  he  came  to  live  in  the  cottage." 

"Yes, — well,  I  must  be  going,"  said  Calthorpe, 
moving  away,  and  he  went  after  a  rather  sulky 
good-bye,  very  unlike  his  usual  friendliness  and 
promises  to  come  again. 

II 
Nan  stood  still,  with  a  finger  to  her  lip,  after  he 
had  gone,  then  she  opened  the  door  and  ran  quickly 

71 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

after  him.  He  heard  her  steps,  and  her  voice  calling 
his  name  and,  turning,  he  saw  her,  a  bright  flushed 
spot  on  each  small  cheek-bone,  with  strands  of  dark 
hair  blowing  across  her  face. 

"Oh,  Mr.  Calthorpe,  I  haven't  offended  you,  have 
I?" 

("How  tiny  she  is,  and  how  concerned  she  looks  !'* 
he  thought,  and  nearly  laughed  with  tenderness). 

"Bless  me,  no,  my  dear !"  he  said,  patting  her  arm 
as  one  might  pat  a  child's. 

"I'm  so  glad;  I  was  afraid  .  .  .  you  went  away 
so  suddenly  .  .  .  You  forgot  the  flowers;  here,  I've 
brought  them."  She  hdd  them  out,  and  continued 
to  look  anxiously  up  into  his  face.  "Sure  I  didn't 
say  anything  to  offend  you — sure  ?" 

"Sure!  you're  very  sweet,"  he  said,  taking  the 
flowers. 

"You've  been  so  kind;  I  think  you're  my  best 
friend,"  she  said  impulsively,  and  she  put  her  hand 
on  his  cuff.  "I  must  go  back  now — but  you're  not 
cross,  are  you?" 

"Not  a  bit;  not  in  the  very  least." 

He  walked  away  shaking  his  head  rather  ruefully. 

"She  won't  come  for  an  ordinary  stroll  with  me 

of  an  evening,  yet  she  tears  after  me  without  a  hat 

72 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

or  a  coat,  all  upset,  for  anybody  to  see !  She's  got 
a  good  heart  .  .  .  She's  never  herself  when  those 
Denes  are  about.  But  when  she's  herself  she's  just 
as  sweet  as  she  can  be.  Poor  little  thing !  Am  I  a 
fool  to  go  there?"  and  thinking  these  thoughts  he 
hurried  on,  carrying  the  flowers  she  had  given  him. 

Ill 

He  continued,  however,  to  go  there,  but  he  made 
his  visits  more  rare,  reflecting,  with  a  shade  of 
surprise  at  his  own  considerateness,  that  it  would  be 
doing  her  a  bad  turn  to  cause  gossip  in  the  village. 
He  was,  after  all,  the  overseer,  while  she  was  only 
the  wife  of  a  factory-hand  and  a  factory-hand  her- 
self, so  that  he  could  not  visit  the  Denes  as  another 
man  might,  on  a  footing  of  equality.  The  death 
of  Silas's  wife  had  given  him  an  excuse  at  first  for 
frequenting  the  double  cottage,  but  that  affair  was 
now  a  month  old,  and  was  already  beginning  to  be 
forgotten  in  the  rude  world  of  the  factory- village, 
where  accidents  were  more  or  less  common.  Silas 
himself  never  alluded  to  it.  He  seemed,  as  Nan  had 
said,  to  live  in  comparative  content  with  Linnet 
Morgan.  Linnet  Morgan  was  young,  educated,  and 
extremely  clever;  and  so  merry  that  Silas's  dark 

73 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

moods  usually  ended  by  being  dispelled  before  his 
laughter.  Linnet  Morgan  seemed,  in  fact,  to  have 
taken  charge  of  Silas's  life. 

So  much,  Calthorpe  thought,  for  Linnet  Morgan. 

But  Nan, — ah !  Nan  was  winning  and  tantalising, 
demure  sometimes  and  sometimes  impetuous;  Nan 
was  shy  but  confiding;  little  and  sweet  and  wind- 
blown ;  and  Calthorpe  tried  to  feel  large  and  fatherly 
towards  Nan.  She  evidently  welcomed  him,  gave 
him  his  chair  by  the  fire ;  then  went  about  her  occu- 
pations, stopping  to  chatter  when  she  felt  inclined, 
asking  him  his  opinion  with  her  pretty  head  held 
on  one  side  and  her  hands  on  her  hips,  singing  over 
her  work, — adopting  him  very  much,  in  fact,  as  an 
inmate  of  her  household.  This  method  might  put 
him  at  his  ease,  but  it  also  mortified  him.  She  ac- 
cepted his  visits  with  a  lack  of  self-consciousness, 
he  sometimes  thought,  that  would  have  been  morti- 
fying to  any  man.  He  supposed  that  Gregory  was 
fond  of  her,  but  the  difficulty  of  communicating 
with  Gregory  rendered  too  tedious  the  effort  of 
discovering  his  thoughts.  Calthorpe  usually  nodded 
pleasantly  to  Gregory,  and  left  their  acquaintance 
at  that.    He  thought  Gregory  a  sneering,  sour  kind 

of  fellow,  jealously  wrapped  up  in  his  machinery; 

74 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

he  would  not  let  Calthorpe  look  at  his  designs,  but 
covered  them  over  with  both  hands  outspread,  when 
once  the  overseer  bent  with  a  friendly  interest  over 
his  shoulder. 

But  Nan, — no,  never  had  Calthorpe  blundered 
across  so  delectable  a  being  as  Nan.  He  cursed 
himself  for  having  hitherto  overlooked  the  grace 
and  delicacy  which  set  her  so  apart  from  the  other 
working  women;  he  cursed  himself  anew  each  time 
he  watched  her  as  she  hung  muslin  curtains  across 
her  windows,  or  arranged  and  re-arranged  her  wild 
flowers  upon  the  dresser.  He  had  to  make  his  obser- 
vations for  himself,  for  she  told  him  nothing;  she 
did  not  tell  him  how  she  wilted  daily  as  she  passed 
through  the  factory  on  her  way  to  her  own  work, 
which  lay  among  the  heaps  of  white  powder  and 
the  myriads  of  little  scent-bottles,  and  was  con- 
genial to  her, — soft  powder,  coloured  boxes,  gilt 
labels,  pretty  cut-glass,  and  a  constant  rainbow  of 
ribbons.  She  snipped  them  with  her  scissors,  sitting 
on  a  high  stool  before  the  table,  in  company  with 
rows  of  other  girls,  all  in  blue  overalls;  and  the 
ends  of  ribbon  fell  in  a  scatter  of  confetti  around 
her.  She  noticed  everything  that  the  other  girls 
did  not  notice.    They  only  lifted  their  heads  to  gape 

75 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

at  the  visitors  who  were  being  taken  over  the  factory, 
but  Nan,  gentle,  uncommenting,  and  inwardly 
blandished,  dwelt  with  pleasure  upon  the  bright 
lightness  of  the  big  room,  upon  the  pale  sunlight 
that  fell  on  the  bent  heads  of  the  girls, — some  of 
them  had  fair,  sleek  hair  that  looked  like  spun  silk 
in  the  sun, — upon  the  powdery  cleanliness  of  the 
floor,  and  the  scrubbed  expanse  of  the  tables  between 
the  armies  of  shining  little  bottles.  She  hated  the 
rest  of  the  factory,  that  smelt  and  smoked  and 
clanked;  but  this  one  room  approached  her  secret 
vision  of  diaphaneity  and  seemliness. 

IV 

For  who  amongst  men  and  women  lives  without 
the  secret  vision  of  some  spot,  either  known  or 
merely  conjectural,  whether  of  red  moors  or  shel- 
tered meadows,  mirrored  coasts  or  battlemented 
mountains?  Hers  was  a  pitifully  simple  dream. 
Sun  and  water,  and  always  light :  light  everywhere, 
streaming  and  pouring  in,  because  light  to  her  meant 
happiness.  The  house  must  be  small,  the  rooms  low ; 
size  alarmed  her.  She  would  be  too  timid  to  dwell 
beneath  vaulted  roofs.     In  her  mind  she  knew  its 

geography  intimately,  and  the  disposal  of  its  gar- 

76 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

den;  it  stood  in  the  heart  of  undulating  cornlands, 
not  very  far  from  the  sea.  She  had  never  seen  it. 
And  with  whom  she  shared  it  she  did  not  know. 
Certainly  not  with  Gregory.  Gregory's  exclusion 
was  not  deliberate;  it  was  unthinking,  and,  had  it 
been  put  to  her  in  words,  might  have  perplexed  and 
dismayed  her;  nevertheless,  it  was  a  fact  that  Greg- 
ory's step  never  sounded  upon  the  tiles  of  her  dream- 
passage,  nor  did  his  belongings  lie  in  the  litter  of 
joint-proprietorship  about  the  rooms. 


Instead  of  this  she  was  given  flooded,  low-lying 
country,  a  dark  and  ancient  abbey,  and  the  clanging 
factory  served  by  fire  and  iron.  She  shuddered  at 
the  cranes  which  discharged  the  coal  from  the  slow 
canal-barges  of  the  factory's  private  canal.  She 
compared  the  barges  to  beetles,  and  the  cranes  that 
poised  above  them,  to  the  pincer-armed  antennae  of 
some  gigantic  spider,  descending  to  devour.  When 
they  pivoted  slowly  with  their  dangling  burdens, 
she  shrank,  thinking  that  the  cable  must  break, 
either  from  accident  or  mischief,  and  drop  the 
weight  upon  the  men  below.  She  thought  the  fac- 
tory would  relish  that.     She  never  went  near  the 

77 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

canal  wharves  or  the  railway  line  if  she  could  possi- 
bly avoid  it,  but  sometimes  she  had  to  take  Silas  to 
the  "shops" — ^the  packing  sheds  where  he  worked, 
and  which  were  near  the  railway.  He  seemed  often 
to  ask  her  to  take  him  there  since  Hannah  had  died, 
and  on  the  way  there  he  would  talk  about  the  acci- 
dent. Nan  was  unable  to  answer.  She  led  him 
conscientiously,  holding  her  black  shawl  about  her 
head  with  her  free  hand,  and  turning  her  profile 
away  from  him;  but  though  she  was  careful  of  his 
steps  she  could  never  force  an  answer  between  her 
lips.  No,  not  if  she  had  known  that  he  would  guess 
his  secret  had  been  surprised;  nothing  could  have 
loosened  her  response, — yet  her  terror  of  him  was 
extreme.  She  had  often  to  constrain  herself  from 
crying  out.  He  walked  boldly,  really  knowing  the 
way  without  her  guidance,  and  talking  in  a  loud 
voice,  swinging  his  arms,  so  that  sometimes  people 
stopped  to  stare  at  him.  He  rehearsed  and  repeated 
every  detail  of  that  day,  making  a  grievance  that  he 
had  not  known  of  his  wife's  death  until  three  hours 
after  its  occurrence,  and  Nan  shuddered,  wondering 
how  he  could  infuse  so  much  vehemence  into  a  lie. 
Had  he  perhaps  persuaded  himself  of  its  truth  ?    But 

she  little  knew  the  rotations  moving  in  his  brain, 

7^ 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

that  dwelt  upon  the  murder  as  a  vindication  of  his 
own  cunning  and  courage.  That  was  a  deed  planned 
and  executed  by  no  bungler  and  no  coward!  He 
delighted  fearfully  in  its  elaboration.  With  every 
phrase  he  was  risking  a  slip,  as  a  man  walking  in  a 
dangerous  place  risks  his  limbs  with  every  step. 
True,  he  held  Nan  in  contempt,  but  she  did  well 
enough  for  him  to  practice  on;  any  suspicion  that 
might  raise  its  head  in  her  mind  could  easily  be  laid 
again  by  his  inventive  brain.  And  after  she  had 
left  him,  he  felt  flattered  and  gratified  by  his  own 
daring. 

VI 

A  coward !  was  he  a  coward  ?  Surely  a  blind  man 
had  very  little  choice ;  deeds  of  danger  were  debarred 
from  him,  but  Silas  dwelt  amorously  upon  such 
deeds — courage  pre-eminent  amongst  the  high  at- 
tributes that  fascinated,  baffled,  and  angered  him. 

By  a  twist  of  his  brain,  through  his  blindness, 
courage  meant  light.  Courage  shone.  It  allured 
him,  so  that  he  turned  constantly  round  the  image. 
There  was  nothing  moral  about  this  allurement,  it 
was  as  pagan  as  any  cult  of  beauty.  Courage  more- 
over— physical  courage — carried  with  it  the  thought 
of  death,  which  to  his  egoism  was  so  supremely  and 

79 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

morbidly  entrancing.  That  he  should  cease  to  be? 
...  he  could  never  adopt  this  idea.  He  went  up 
to  it,  and  fingered  it,  but  its  clammy  touch  revolted 
him,  and  he  violently  rejected  it  always.  But  he  re- 
turned to  it  again  and  again,  working  back  his  way 
in  a  roundabout  fashion,  disguising  the  phantom 
under  a  rich  cloak  of  phrases. 

VII 

He  was  scarcely  more  wary  in  his  dealings  with 
Lady  Malleson  than  with  Nan,  not  that  he  under- 
estimated her  intelligence,  but  because  she  awoke 
all  his  boastfulness,  pandered  to  it,  stimulated  him 
as  nobody  had  in  the  whole  of  his  highly  experi- 
mental life.  The  comparative  frequency  of  his 
interviews  with  her  was  kept  strictly  secret.  It  was 
now  no  longer  Nan  who  led  him  to  Malleson 
Place,  as  on  the  first  occasion,  but  Hambley,  whom 
Silas  had  terrorised  into  discretion.  Nor  did  those 
meetings  invariably  take  place  in  the  house,  but 
sometimes  in  a  summer-house,  away  from  the  gos- 
sip of  the  servants,  while  Hambley  was  sent  to 
skulk  about  the  park,  with  orders  not  to  return 
before  an  hour,  or  two  hours ;  and  even  once,  when 

Sir  Robert  was  in  London,  Hambley  was  dismissed 

80 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

until  midnight.  He  offered  no  objection;  the  em- 
ployment was  after  his  own  heart,  and  Lady  Malle- 
son,  unknown  to  Silas,  made  it  well  worth  his  while. 
He  knew  that  he  was  safe  enough  over  this.  When 
the  lady  brought  Silas  to  the  garden  gate,  and  gave 
him  over  to  Hambley,  Silas  could  not  see  what 
passed  between  her  hand  and  Hambley's.  He  could 
not  see  Hambley's  grin  of  thanks,  or  his  lifted  cap, 
or  Lady  Malleson's  nod  of  smiling  complicity  that 
enjoined  silence.  He  could  only  stand  by,  waiting 
to  be  led  away,  during  the  little  farce  that  was  never 
neglected : 

"Well,  good-night,  Dene;  so  glad  you're  getting 
on  well." 

"Good-night,  my  lady;  thank  you." 

"Good-night,  Hambley.  Take  care  of  Dene  going 
through  the  park." 

"Yes,  my  lady;  good-night,  my  lady." 

Then  they  would  turn  and  go,  Hambley  leading 
Silas  with  care,  while  Christine  Malleson  re-locked 
the  garden  gate  and  watched  them,  always  reluc- 
tantly, out  of  sight. 

VIII 
That  first  occasion ! 

She  had  long  resisted  the  impulse  to  send  for  him. 
81 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

How  long  ?  She  did  not  know ;  every  day  had  been 
a  week,  since  the  wish  first  consciously  awoke  in  her. 
What  had  deterred  her?  she  did  not  know  that 
either ;  perhaps  a  superstitious  shrinking,  an  instinct 
that  the  amusement  might  turn  to  a  wild  beast  of 
danger  as  soon  as  she  exchanged  the  tractable  wraith 
of  her  own  evoking  for  a  human  creature  of  inde- 
pendent intentions,  of  will  and  muscle.  So  she  had 
prolonged  the  period  of  evasion,  knowing  perfectly 
well  that  at  the  end  of  the  road  she  was  descending 
with  such  restrained,  deliberate  footsteps,  stood  the 
figure  of  Silas,  with  folded  arms,  waiting  for  her. 
Sometimes  she  had  wondered  whether  the  whole 
thing  were  not  the  creation  of  her  fancy.  The  mat- 
ter had  grown  in  her  mind,  since  she  had  first  heard 
from  her  husband  the  story  of  the  inquest,  until  the 
blind  man  now  accompanied  every  moment  of  her 
day;  and  so  strong  was  this  fateful  companionship, 
that  she  believed  Silas,  down  in  the  village,  must 
be  living  in  equivalent  consciousness  of  her  nearness 
and  the  rapid  convergence  of  their  lives.  Still  she 
attempted  to  persuade  herself  that  her  own  idle  mind 
was  alone  responsible;  sometimes  with  a  laugh, 
sometimes  with  a  shrug,  she  had  tried  to  dismiss  the 

too  persistent  figure. 

82 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

She  had  not  believed  her  own  lips  when  she  heard 
them  giving  the  order  to  fetch  Silas  Dene. 

IX 

When  they  came  to  tell  her  that  he  had  arrived 
she  had  glanced  at  herself  in  the  mirror,  then  re- 
membering that  he  was  blind,  she  thought,  "Absurd !" 

"Who  is  with  him?"  she  asked  the  servant. 

"A  young  woman,  my  lady." 

"Very  well;  give  her  some  tea  in  the  house- 
keeper's room.     Bring  Dene  up  here." 

She  lay  on  her  sofa,  waiting  for  him  to  be  brought 
up.  She  hoped  his  blindness  was  not  disfiguring, 
and  suddenly  the  matter  lost  its  almost  mystical 
value,  and  she  saw  it  in  a  prosaic  light:  why  had 
she  been  so  foolish  as  to  obey  her  whim  and  send 
for  this  man?  she  knew  that  she  was  very  unskilled 
at  talking  to  what  she  called  "common  people," 
even  when  she  came  across  them  accidentally,  such 
as  gardeners ;  they  were  always  taciturn  and  hostile, 
and  she  thought  vaguely  that  they  would  be  more 
so  within  four  walls  even  than  in  the  open  air. 
The  prospect  of  being  closeted  in  her  sitting-room 
alone  with  a  factory-hand, — ^he  was  nothing  else, — 
appalled  her.     Perhaps  he  would  spit.     Perhaps  he 

83 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

would  smell  ...  In  any  case,  what  should  she 
find  to  say  to  him? 

He  was  there,  standing  by  the  door  where  the 
servant  had  left  him,  with  the  special  stillness  of 
the  blind  in  a  strange  place.  Contrary  to  her 
expectation,  he  did  not  wear  a  beard.  She  saw  at 
once  that  he  had  an  extraordinary  proud,  fine- 
featured  face,  and  that  his  blindness  was  not  in  the 
least  disfiguring.  Indeed,  his  eyes  were  so  dark  and 
so  full  of  fire  that  it  was  hard  to  believe  them  sight- 
less. He  had  nothing  of  the  smartened-up  appear- 
ance that  she  was  accustomed  to  associate  with  the 
poor  when  visiting  the  rich.  He  had  so  clearly 
taken  no  trouble  either  to  brush  his  hair  or  change 
his  coat,  that  she  remembered  with  a  twinge  of 
annoyance  her  own  glance  into  the  mirror  when 
his  arrival  was  announced.  Her  embarrassment 
diminished  as  she  realised  that  he  was  himself 
neither  intimidated  nor  impressed. 

*'0h.  Dene,"  she  said,  "I  am  glad  to  see  you.  Sir 
Robert  has  been  telling  me  a  little  about  your 
circumstances,  and  I  wondered  whether  I  could 
help  you  in  any  way?  So  I  asked  you  to  come  up 
here  to  speak  to  me."  She  was  satisfied  with  her 
opening,  but  felt  the  last  phrase  to  be  weak,  a  fall- 

84 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

ing  away;  his  quietness,  and  the  knowledge  that  he 
could  not  see  her,  disconcerted  her. 

"In  what  way  did  you  mean  exactly,  my  lady?" 
he  asked. 

How  could  she  answer  that  question?  Mention 
of  money  was  impossible;  she  knew  that  already, 
although  she  had  only  heard  him  pronounce  nine 
words.  She  was  driven  up  against  the  truth  that 
she  had  wanted  to  see  him  for  no  other  purpose  than 
her  own  distraction,  that  any  other  reason  would 
be  a  mere  pretext,  and  she  had  a  swift  impulse  to 
tell  him  this,  confident  that  he  would  not  misunder- 
stand. So  much  already  did  she  feel  him  to  be  not 
only  her  social,  but  also  her  intellectual  equal. 
( Social  was  a  wrong  word,  an  absurd  word ;  it  could 
never  be  used,  with  all  the  artifice  and  fallacy  that  it 
implied,  in  connection  with  Silas  Dene.  Her  dis- 
coveries went  rapidly.  But  she  must  give  some  sort 
of  answer.) 

"I  meant  nothing  exactly.    I  thought  that  if  there 

was  anything  I  could  do,  you  would  tell  me.*' 

"This  is  the  first  time,  my  lady,  that  I  remember 

your  sending  for  any  one  from  the  factory  up  to 

Malleson  Place." 

She  was  astonished  at  that;  his  tone  amounted 
85 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

to  an  accusation.  He  was  so  grave,  and  she  used 
in  her  mind  the  word  "chained,"  as  most  nearly 
expressing  his  obvious  reserve  of  force. 

'The  truth  is,"  she  said,  ceasing  to  lie  at  full 
length  upon  the  sofa,  and  sitting  upright,  "that  I  was 
very  much  interested  in  what  Sir  Robert  told  me, 
and  thought  I  would  like  to  see  you  for  myself." 

"As  your  ladyship  has  seen  me  now,"  he  sug- 
gested, "and  there  is  nothing  I  want,  I  can  go?" 

As  soon  as  he  wanted  to  go,  she  wanted  him  to 
stay.  She  got  up  and  came  to  help  him,  saying, 
"But  I  should  like  to  talk  to  you  for  a  little,  Dene; 
give  me  your  hand  and  I  will  take  you  to  a  chair." 

He  shook  his  head,  and  said  that  he  preferred  to 
stand.  She  had  to  go  back  to  her  sofa  thwarted, 
though  in  so  small  a  thing,  while  he  remained  by  the 
door.  He  made  her  sitting-room  appear  tawdry, 
with  its  little  gilt  chairs  and  lacy  cushions  and  pink 
carpet,  so  much  did  he  rob  people  and  objects  of  all 
but  their  true  significance.  She  was  almost  ashamed 
of  her  surroundings,  and  was  thankful  that  he  could 
not  see  them,  but  she  thought  that  it  would  take 
more  than  mere  blindness  to  stay  his  more  perilous 
vision  down  through  the  embellishments  into  any- 
body's soul.    She  was  conscious  of  saying  to  herself, 

86 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"This  wont  do/'  and  of  taking  herself  sharply  in 
hand.  "This  is  to  be  my  game,"  she  insisted,  "not 
his." 

X 

She  had  failed  entirely  to  make  him  sit  down,  for 
he  continued  to  refuse  her  invitation  with  the  same 
haughty  gravity,  and  responded  not  at  all  to  the  one 
or  two  phrases  with  which  she  tried  him. 

"I  have  heard  reports  of  your  fame  as  a  public 
speaker.  Dene,"  she  said  with  a  propitiatory  smile, 
forgetting  for  the  moment  that  her  smiles  were 
wasted  on  him. 

"A  lot  of  the  chaps  speak,  my  lady." 

"But  without  your  advantages.  Sir  Robert  tells 
me  you  are  a  very  highly-educated  man." 

"No  such  luck,  my  lady." 

"Oh,  come,  Dene?  Sir  Robert  says  you  are  a 
great  reader." 

"Somebody  must  ha'  been  kiddin'  Sir  Robert,  my 
lady." 

She  delighted  in  him.  He  was  perfectly  grave, 
and  affected  a  Lincolnshire  accent,  which  he  cer- 
tainly had  not  possessed  when  he  first  came  into 
the  room;  a  subtle  insolence,  but  one  which  she  did 

87 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

not  resent,  for  it  demonstrated  him  as  unwilling  to 
prance  out  his  tricks,  cheaply,  at  the  bidding  of  a 
sophisticated  curiosity,  and  she  was  a  woman  who 
knew  how  to  esteem  superficial,  although  perhaps 
not  fundamental  dignity.  (Malleson  had  funda- 
mental dignity,  which,  poor  man,  had  not  served 
him  to  very  much  purpose  with  his  wife.)  Also, 
she  was  emphatically  a  woman  who  maintained  that 
the  first  duty  of  sex  in  the  game  was  to  be  a  danger 
to  the  opposite  sex.  Dene — certainly  Dene  fulfilled 
both  these  conditions!  Acquaintance  such  as  hers 
with  him  was  like  a  sojourn  at  the  foot  of  a  volcano 
which  might  at  any  moment  erupt.  She  relished 
the  peril  of  the  game.  How  she  stirred  him  to 
extravagance  after  extravagance!  how  she  poked 
and  probed  and  decoyed  his  mind!  encouraging, 
insinuating,  blowing  upon  the  ready  spark;  ''baiting 
Silas  Dene,"  she  called  it,  as  a  baron  might  have 
said,  ''baiting  the  bear'*;  all  the  better  sport  because 
she  knew  it  to  be  so  quick  with  danger.  She  sent 
for  him  as  often  as  she  dared,  and  when  he  was 
absent  she  thought  about  him,  but  always  as  an 
experiment,  an  intellectual  exercise.  She  was  too 
cold-blooded  a  schemer  to  allow  herself  to  think  of 

him  now  as  anything  else.  .  .  . 

88 


VI 


Nan  returned  frequently  along  the  road  on  the  top 
of  the  dyke,  on  the  red  and  gray  February  evenings, 
when  the  stillness  was  absolute;  on  either  side  of 
the  dyke  the  floods  lay,  placid  and  flat  as  mirrors, 
over  broad  miles  of  country,  reflecting  the  crimson 
sun  up  a  path  of  roughened  and  reddened  splendour. 
The  water-filled  ruts  along  the  road  glowed  with  the 
same  light;  long  narrow  lines  of  fire.  How  dismal 
that  flooded  land  would  have  been  without  that 
light ;  gray,  only  gray,  without  the  red !  All  the  most 
dismal  elements  were  present :  a  few  isolated  and 
half -submerged  trees  stuck  up  here  and  there  out  of 
the  water,  and  at  intervals  the  upper  half  of  a  gate 
and  gate-posts  protruded,  the  entrance  to  some  now 
invisible  field;  useless,  ridiculous,  and  woebegone. 
But  that  red  light,  cold  and  fiery,  scored  its  bar  of 
blood  across  the  gray  lagoons. 

89 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

The  village  lay  in  front  of  her,  at  the  end  of  the 
road,  and  behind  the  village  rose  the  three  high 
chimneys  of  the  factory,  black  amongst  the  gray 
waters,  the  gray  sky,  threatening  and  desolate  in  the 
midst  of  desolation.  The  three  black  plumes  of 
smoke  drifted  upwards,  converged  into  a  large 
leisurely  volume,  and  dispersed;  already  in  the 
dusk  the  red  glow  at  their  base  was  becoming  visible, 
and  a  single  star  appeared  high  above  them,  as 
though  a  spark  that  had  floated  out  from  the  heart 
of  the  factory  now  hung  suspended  in  supercilious 
vigil.  The  abbey  on  the  farther  side  lay  heaped  in  a 
mass  as  dark  as  the  mass  of  the  factory.  Nan  would 
shift  to  the  other  hand  the  basket  she  was  carrying 
home  from  the  market-town  of  Spalding;  walking 
along  the  elevation  of  the  dyke,  she  made  a  tiny, 
upright  figure  in  the  great  circle  of  the  flat  country, 
for  here  the  disc  of  the  horizon  was  as  apparent  as 
it  is  at  sea.  The  group  of  village,  factory,  and 
church,  emerged  like  an  island  loaded  with  strange 
and  sombre  piles  of  architecture,  adrift  from  all 
other  encampments  of  men.  Abbot's  Etchery  lay 
before  her,  against  that  formidable  foundry  of  the 
heavens,  that  swarthy  splendour  of  smoke  and  sun- 
set, and  as  she  continued  to  advance  she  thought 

90 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

that  she  re-entered  an  angry  prison,  too  barbarous, 
too  inimical,  for  her  to  dwell  beneath  it,  and  live. 

II 

The  calm,  cold  weather  broke  late  in  February; 
a  gale  swept  for  two  nights  and  a  day  across  the 
country,  beating  up  the  waters  into  little  jostling 
peaks  and  breaking  from  the  forlorn  trees  branches 
that  were  jerked  hither  and  thither  upon  the  waves, 
now  coming  to  rest  upon  a  tussock  of  higher  ground, 
now  taken  again  by  the  shallow  storm  of  the  floods, 
or  tossed  to  lie  against  the  bulwark  of  the  dykes. 
The  smoke  from  the  factory  chimneys  was  snatched 
by  the  wind,  and  swirled  wildly  away  in  coils  and 
streamers,  black  smoke  mingled  with  the  dark 
masses  of  cloud  that  drove  across  the  disordered 
sky.  Gulls  from  the  Wash  flew  inland, — the  gulls, 
that  more  than  any  other  bird  attune  themselves 
to  the  season,  in  summer  gleaming  white,  lovely  and 
marbled,  on  the  wing,  but  in  times  of  tempest 
matching  the  clouds,  iron-gray,  the  most  desolate  of 
birds. 

It  became  unsafe  for  carts  to  travel  along  the 
road  on  the  top  of  the  dyke,  since  one  farm-cart, 
swaying  already  under  an  excessive  load  of  fodder, 

91 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

was  caught  by  a  gust  of  wind  and  overturned.  After 

one  moment  of  perilous  balance,  it  crashed  down  the 

embankment,   dragging  after   it  the  two   frenzied 

horses,  falling  in  a  welter  of  broken  limbs,  tangled 

harness,  and  splintered  woodwork,  while  the  trusses 

of  hay  broke  from  their  lashings  and  scattered  into 

the  borders  of  the  flood. 

The  storm  of  wind  and  water  raged  round  this 

disaster,  and  folk  from  the  village  collected  on  the 

top  of  the  dyke  to  gape  down  at  the  carter  busy 

amongst  the  wreckage,  and  surreptitiously  at  Malle- 

son,  the  owner,  who  stood  alone,  more  in  sorrow 

for  his  valiant  horses  than  in  regret  over  his  material 

loss.     There  was  no  hope  of  saving  the  horses, — 

they  were  shire  horses,  stately  and  monumental, — 

by  the  time  the  crowd  had  assembled  their  tragic 

struggle  had  already  ceased.    The  carter  was  sullenly 

bending  down,  unbuckling  the  harness;  he  would 

speak  to  no  one.     On  the  top  of  the  dyke  the  gale 

buffeted  the  little  crowd,  so  that  the  men    (their 

hands  buried  in  their  pockets,  their  overcoats  blown 

against  their  legs  as  they  stood  with  their  backs  to 

the  winds,  and  their  mufflers  streaming)   stamped 

their  feet  to  keep  themselves  warm,  and  the  women 

with  pinched  faces  drew  their  black  shawls  more 

92 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

closely  round  their  heads  and  whispered  dolefully 
together. 

Ill 

The  accident  greatly  excited  Silas  Dene;  it 
occurred  on  a  Saturday  afternoon,  and  Nan,  who 
was  sewing  in  her  own  kitchen,  heard  upon  the  wall 
the  three  thumps  that  were  Silas's  usual  summons. 
She  found  him  with  Linnet  Morgan,  Hambley, 
and  Donnithorne,  one  of  his  mates,  who  had 
stopped  on  his  way  down  the  street  to  bring  the 
news. 

Silas  wanted  Nan  to  go  to  the  scene  of  the  accident 
and  to  bring  him  back  a  first-hand  report.  She 
cried  out  in  dismay,  appealing  with  her  eyes  to  both 
Morgan  and  Donnithorne.  Hambley  she  ignored; 
his  very  presence  made  her  shudder,  and  she  knew 
he  would  side  with  Silas. 

*'But,  Silas,  I  wouldn't  for  the  world!  Those 
poor  horses — what  are  you  asking  me  to  do?  to  go 
and  gloat  over  them?" 

''Sentiment !"  said  Silas,  who  was  angry.    "Linnet 

says  the  same.     God,   if  I  had  eyes  to  use  .  .  . 

There's  violence  and  destruction  half  a  mile  down 

the  road,  and  you  won't  go  to  see  it.    It  maddens  me, 

the  way  you  folk  neglect  the  gifts  and  the  oppor- 

93 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

tunities  God  offers  you.  Sentimentalists!  A  fine 
rough  smash-up  .  .  .  the  wind's  a  poet.  A  poet,  I 
say,  wasting  food  and  Hfe  for  the  mischief  of  it. 
The  food  of  beasts,  and  the  Hfe  of  beasts ;  wasted ! 
There's  twenty  trusses  of  hay  in  the  floods,  so 
Donnithorne  here  tells  me, — twenty  trusses  spoilt 
for  dainty- feeding  cows, — and  two  fine  horses 
smashed,  and  a  big  wagon.  They're  lying  heaped 
at  the  bottom  of  the  dyke.  There's  blood  spilt,  as 
red  as  the  heat  of  the  sun.  No  man  would  dare  to 
bring  all  that  about  for  the  sake  of  the  mischief ;  but 
the  wind's  a  poet,  I  say  — I  like  the  wind — he  tears 
up  in  a  minute  trees  that  have  persevered  inch  by 
inch  for  a  thousand  years,  and  sends  to  the  bottom 
ships  full  of  a  merchant's  careful  cargo.  Well,  you 
won't  go  down  the  road  and  tell  a  blind  man  about 
the  smash?" 

"Guts  spilt,  Mrs.  Dene!"  said  Hambley,  rubbing 
his  hands  together  and  provoking  her.  She  turned 
away  from  him  with  repulsion. 

"Ye're  morbid,  Silas,"  said  Donnithorne  in  dis- 
gust, his  hand  on  the  latch.  He  was  a  red-headed, 
red-bearded  man,  with  pale  but  lascivious  blue  eyes 
that  once  had  leered  at  Hannah,  Silas's  wife. 

"Morbid,  am  I  ?  no,  it's  you  squeamish  ones  that 
94 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

are  morbid,  and  I  that  have  the  stout  fancy.  If 
Heaven  had  given  me  eyes!  I  wouldn't  be  such  a 
one  as  you.  I'd  sooner  be  a  fool  playing  with  a  bit 
of  string,  and  crooning  mumble-jumble,  or  taking 
off  my  hat  to  a  scarecrow  in  the  dusk." 

With  that  he  bundled  them  all  out,  and  slammed 
the  door. 

IV 

Linnet  Morgan  followed  Nan  back  into  her  own 
kitchen. 

"Oh,  Mr.  Morgan,  is  Silas  mad?"  she  said,  turn- 
ing to  him  at  once. 

*T  sometimes  don't  know  what  to  make  of  him." 

"Would  he  go  to  look  at  the  accident,  do  you 
think,  if  he  could  see?" 

"Not  he!"  said  Morgan,  "not  he!  But  he's  safe 
to  say  so.  He  turned  pale  when  Donnithorne  told 
him  about  it,  but  next  minute  he  was  pretending  to 
be  all  eager,  like  you  heard  him." 

They  remained  standing,  occupied  with  their  own 
thoughts.  Gregory  glanced  up  from  his  drawings 
as  they  came  in,  but  otherwise  took  no  notice  of 
them.  Morgan  sat  down  before  the  range,  and 
began  prodding  a  piece  of  firewood  between  the 
small  open  bars. 

95 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

*T  lose  my  bearings,  living  with  Silas,"  he  said 
presently;  "amongst  all  his  manias,  he's  got  this 
mania  for  destruction.  Perhaps  the  long  and  short 
of  it  is,  that  he  likes  talking  loud  about  big  noisy 
things,  when  he's  certain  they  won't  come  near  him 
to  hurt  him.  Being  blind  keeps  him  safe  .  .  .  Mrs. 
Dene,  come  for  a  turn  with  me.  You  look  right 
white  and  scared.  Come  out,  and  let  the  wind  blow 
away  bad  thoughts?" 

*T'll  ask  Gregory  to  come  with  us."  She  went 
over  to  her  husband,  touched  him  on  the  arm  to 
attract  his  attention,  and  spoke  to  him  on  her  fingers. 
"He  says  he's  busy  with  his  drawings,  but  will  we 
go  without  him." 

V 

They  took  the  road  that  led  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion from  the  accident,  and  uncharitable  eyes 
watched  them  go  past  the  windows  of  the  houses  in 
the  village.  But  they  walked  all  unconscious,  feeling 
relieved  and  with  a  gay  sense  of  holiday,  almost  a 
sense  of  truancy;  and  when  the  wind  caught  them 
as  they  left  the  shelter  of  the  village,  and  forced 
them  to  a  breathless  standstill,  they  laughed,  and 
struggled  on  again,  exhilarated  by  their  fight  against 

so  clean  and  natural  a  foe.    They  were  soon  in  the 

96 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

open  country,  having  left  the  village  behind;  they 
breasted  the  wind,  and  breathed  it  deeply,  tasting, 
or  fancying  that  they  tasted,  upon  their  lips  the  salt 
of  the  flying  spray.  The  road  which  they  followed 
lost  the  monotony  of  its  straightness  when  they 
conquered  it  yard  by  yard,  and  remembered  that, 
did  they  but  follow  it  far  enough,  it  would  lead 
them  eventually  to  the  sea. 

There  was  indeed  a  regal  splendour  about  the 
day,  about  the  embattled  sky  and  driven  clouds. 
The  northern  forces  had  been  recklessly  unleashed. 
The  sea  would  be  beaten  into  a  tumult  full  of  angry 
majesty.    How  wild  a  day,  how  arrogant  a  storm ! 

VI 

Coming  back,  the  wind  almost  forced  them  into 

a  run,  and  they  yielded,   racing  along  the   road, 

impelled  as  by  a  strong  hand.    They  could  not  speak 

to  one  another  in  the  midst  of  the  turmoil,  but  they 

smiled  from  time  to  time  in  happy  understanding. 

As  they  neared  the  village  Nan  checked  herself,  and, 

leaning  breathless  against  one  of  the  telegraph-posts 

that  bordered  the  road,  tried  to  re-order  her  hair, 

but  the  wind  took  her  shawl  and  blew  it  streaming 

from  her  hand,  also  the  strands  of  her  hair  in  little 

97 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

wild  fluttering  pennons.  Nevertheless,  she  was  in 
such  high  good  humour  that  she  only  laughed  at 
what  might  have  been  an  annoyance,  turning  herself 
this  way  and  that  to  gain  the  best  advantage  over 
the  wind.  Morgan  stood  by,  laughing  himself,  and 
watching  her.  She  wore  a  dark  red  shirt,  and  the 
wind  had  blown  two  patches  on  to  her  cheeks, 
which  were  usually  so  pale  they  looked  fragile  and 
transparent.  They  continued  more  soberly  towards 
the  village,  still  without  speaking,  even  when  they 
reached  the  shelter  of  the  street,  because  it  seemed 
unnecessary. 

They  saw  Silas  standing  on  his  own  doorstep, 
hatless,  in  a  strange  attitude,  holding  his  hands 
stretched  out  before  him,  the  fingers  wide  apart. 
Nan  ran  up  and  caught  one  of  his  hands;  Morgan 
was  surprised,  for  she  never  treated  Silas  with 
levity.  She  seemed  to  have  shaken  off  the  years  of 
repression,  to  have  forgotten  totally  the  conscien- 
tious lesson. 

''What  are  you  doing  standing  there,  Silas?"  She 
was  very  gay. 

"Letting  the  wind  whistle  in  my  fingers.  Hark! 
Bend  down  your  head.'* 

"I  can't  hear  it,  Silas." 

98 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"No,  you've  coarse  ears;  eyes!  eyes!  yes!  but 
coarse  ears.    Where  have  you  been?'' 

"Along  the  dyke.  .  .  . 

"Seen  the  accident?" 

"Hush,  Silas ;  you  shan't  dwell  on  that."  Morgan 
had  never  seen  her  so  brave,  so  radiant,  with  the 
blind  man.  She  took  his  arm  now,  leading  him 
back  into  his  cottage.  "Sit  down  by  the  fire,  Silas; 
it's  warm  and  sheltered  in  here.  The  kettle's  sing- 
ing." 

"I'd  sooner  stay  in  the  wind,"  he  said,  striving 
against  the  light  pressure  of  her  hands  on  his 
shoulders  as  she  held  him  down. 

"The  wind's  too  rough;  I've  had  enough  of  it." 

"Then  let  me  stay  on  the  doorstep  alone.  You 
stop  in  the  shelter  with  Linnet." 

"No,  Silas,  we'll  all  three  stop  in  here  together. 
I'll  sing  to  you  a  bit,  shall  I?"  Morgan  observed 
her  firmness  with  a  surprised  admiration. 

She  got  her  zither  from  the  cupboard  where  she 

kept  it,  laid  it  on  the  table,  and  tried  the  chords 

with  a  little  tortoiseshell  clip  that  she  slipped  over 

her  thumb.     The  thin  notes  quivered  through  the 

bluster  of  the  wind  and  the  harshness  of   Silas's 

voice.    She  bent  intently  over  her  tuning,  trying  the 

99 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

notes  with  her  voice,  adjusting  the  wires  with  the 
key  she  held  between  her  fingers. 

"Now  !'*  she  said,  looking  up  and  smiling. 

She  sang  her  little  sentimental  songs,  "Annie 
Laurie,"  and  "My  boy  Jo,"  her  voice  as  clear  and 
natural  as  the  accompaniment  was  painstaking.  She 
struck  the  wires  bravely  with  her  tortoiseshell  clip. 
Morgan  applauded. 

"It's  grand,  Mrs.  Dene." 

"Why  do  you  choose  to-day  for  your  zither?" 
Silas  asked  in  his  most  rasping  tone. 

"It's  Sunday,  Silas, — a  home  day." 

"But  you're  not  home;  you're  in  my  cottage; 
your  home  is  with  Gregory,  next  door.  You're  here 
with  me  and  Linnet." 

"Gregory  can't  hear  me  sing,"  she  said  pitifully. 

"Then  why  don't  you  dance?  he  could  see  you 
dance." 

"I  asked  him  to  come  for  a  walk,"  she  said,  her 
brightness  dimmed  by  tears. 

"And  he  wouldn't  go?  with  you  and  Linnet?" 

"No,  he  was  drawing." 

"Ah?"  said  Silas.     "But  Linnet  went  with  you? 

Linnet  wasn't  busy?" 

"What'll    I    sing  that   pleases   you?"    she    said, 
100 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW;  WAY ^IftS  . 

maintaining    her    endeavour ;    "  *Loch    Lomond  ?* 
You  used  to  like  'Loch  Lomond/  " 

"Ask  Linnet;  he's  Scotch;  no  doubt  that's  what 
put  a  Scotch  song  into  your  mind." 

"Silas!"  she  said  in  despair,  dropping  her  hands 
on  to  her  zither,  which  gave  forth  a  jangle  of 
sounds. 

"H  you  want  home,  as  you  say,  stop  here  with 
Linnet;  I'll  lend  you  my  cottage,"  said  Silas,  rising 
and  groping  for  his  cap.  "Play  at  home  for  a  bit. 
Draw  the  curtains,  light  the  lamp,  make  tea  for 
yourselves,  put  the  kettle  back  to  sing  on  the  hob, 
and  you.  Nan,  sing  to  your  zither  to  your  heart's 
content.  It's  a  pleasant,  warm  room,  for  pleasant, 
warm  people.  Home  of  a  Sunday,  with  the  wind 
shut  out!  Oh  yes,  I'll  lend  you  my  cottage.  Greg- 
ory's lost  in  his  drawings  till  supper-time.  Stay  here 
and  talk  and  smoke  and  sing,  while  the  room  grows 
warmer,  and  you  forget  the  wind  and  the  two  dead 
horses  and  spoilt  fodder  lying  down  the  road.  Spend 
your  evenings  in  forget  fulness.  Ask  no  questions 
of  sorrow.  Kill  darkness  with  your  little  candle  of 
content." 

"You're  crazy;  where  are  you  going?"  cried 
Morgan. 

101 


:  ;/i:liE:iPRASOM  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

**Only  to  the  Abbey, — not  into  the  floods,"  Silas 
repHed  with  a  laugh. 

"To  the  Abbey?  alone?" 

"One  of  my  haunts,  you  know." 


VII 


Silas  found  his  way  along  the  village  street  by 
following  the  outer  edge  of  the  pavement  with  his 
stick;  as  he  went  he  snorted  and  muttered.  "I'll 
have  nothing  to  do  with  Nan's  kindness,"  he  said 
to  himself  several  times.  "She's  easily  satisfied; 
she's  comfortable;  she's  grateful.  She  shuts  the 
eyes  that  she  might  see  with."  This  thought  made 
him  very  angry,  and  he  strode  recklessly  along, 
knocking  against  the  few  folk  that  were  abroad  on 
that  inclement  evening.  One  or  two  of  them  stopped 
him  with  a  "Why,  Dene!  give  you  a  hand  on  your 
way  anywhere?"  but  he  rejected  them,  as  he  was 
determined  to  reject  all  comfort  and  patience  that 
Nan  might  offer  him.  He  liked  the  wind,  that  op- 
posed him  and  made  his  progress  difficult ;  he  struck 
out  against  it,  the  struggle  deluding  him  into  a  re- 
assuring illusion  of  his  own  courage.    He  welcomed 

the  wind  for  the  sake  of  that  tortuous  flattery.  .  .  . 

102 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

He  would  have  made  his  way  to  Lady  Malleson, 
but  he  was  afraid  to  venture  under  the  trees  in  the 
park,  where  a  bough  might  be  blown  down  upon 
him. 

VIII 

At  the  end  of  a  side-street  the  Norman  abbey  rose, 
black  and  humped  and  semi-ruined,  the  huge  dark 
clouds  of  the  evening  sky  sailing  swiftly  past  the 
ogive  of  its  broken  arches.  The  village  had  re- 
treated from  the  abbey,  because  the  abbey's  further- 
most walls  were  lapped  by  the  floods,  so  that  it 
remained,  the  outer  bulwark  of  man's  encampment 
upon  the  inviolate  mound  in  the  midst  of  the 
inundations ;  it  remained  like  some  great  dark  dere- 
lict vessel,  half  beached  upon  dry  land,  half  straining 
still  towards  the  waters.  The  street  which  led  to  it 
was  a  survival  of  the  ancient  town,  gabled  and 
narrow,  with  cobbled  ground;  Silas  tapped  his  way 
over  the  cobbles.  He  could  not  see  the  enormous 
mass  of  tower  and  buttress  and  great  doorway, 
that  blocked  the  end  of  the  street  before  him,  but  he 
heard  the  scattered  peal  of  bells,  and  the  deep  gloom 
of  the  abbey  lost  nothing  in  passing  through  the 

enchantment  of  his  blind  fancy.     He  entered,  and 

103 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

was  swallowed  up  in  shadows.  The  roof  was  lost 
in  a  sombre  and  indistinguishable  vault.  The  aisles 
became  dim  colonnades,  stretching  away  into  uncer- 
tain distance.  The  pillars  with  their  bulk  and  gravity 
of  naked  stone  dwarfed  the  worshippers  that  rustled 
around  their  base.  The  organ  rumbled  in  the  tran- 
sept. Silas  moved  among  the  aisles,  handing  himself 
on  from  pillar  to  pillar ;  he  imagined  that  he  moved 
in  a  forest,  touching  his  way  from  tree-trunk  to  tree- 
trunk;  he  conceived  the  abbey  as  illimitable,  and 
relished  it  the  more  because  ruin  had  impaired  the 
intention  of  the  architecture. 

The  organ  from  its  rumbling  broke  out  into  its 
full  volume,  a  giant  treading  in  wrath  through  the 
forest,  a  storm  rolling  among  the  echoes  of  the  hills. 
Night  came,  and  the  clouds  moved  invisibly  past 
overhead,  over  the  abbey  and  the  floods.  Nothing 
but  the  dark  flats  of  water  lay  between  the  abbey 
and  the  sea;  its  bells  gave  their  music  to  the  wind, 
and  the  great  voice  of  its  organ  was  more  than  a 
man-made  thing.  The  black  shape  of  the  abbey  on 
the  edge  of  the  desolate  floods  bulked  like  a  natural 
growth  rooted  in  old  centuries,  harmonious  and  con- 
sonant with  nature.     To  the  vision  of  Silas  Dene, 

on  which  no  human  limitations  were  imposed,  and 

104 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

whose  mind  was  fed  on  sound  and  thought  alone, 
the  abbey  was  not  less  vast  than  night  itself,  only  a 
night  within  the  night,  an  abode  of  ordered  sound 
within  the  gale  of  sound.  In  his  fancy  he  was  not 
clear  as  to  whether  it  were  roofed  over,  or  lay  open 
to  the  sky;  he  could  vary  his  decision  according  to 
the  vagary  of  the  moment,  alternately  picturing  the 
rafters  high  above  his  head,  or  the  scudding  moonlit 
heavens  of  ragged  black  and  silver.  He  put  his 
hands  upon  the  pillars  with  no  thought  of  man's 
construction;  they  seemed  monolithic.  He  caressed 
them,  moving  between  them,  leaning  against  them, 
and  listening  to  the  organ.  He  was  in  a  large,  dim, 
mysterious  place,  that  had  a  kindred  with  the  floods 
and  with  the  storm.  He  knew  that  all  around  him 
were  shadows  which,  while  making  no  difference  to 
the  perpetual  shadow  he  himself  lived  in,  obscured 
and  hampered  the  free  coming  and  going  of  other 
men.  Darkness  was  to  him  a  confederate  and 
an  affinity;  he  would  smile  when  people  spoke  of 
nightfall  or  of  an  impenetrable  fog.  He  searched 
now  with  his  hand  until  it  touched  the  shoulder  of  a 
kneeling  woman. 

"Are  there  any  lights  in  the  church?"  he  whis- 
pered. 

105 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"Why,  surely!"  she  said,  startled,  "candles  upon 
the  altar." 

He  was  displeased;  he  moved  behind  a  column 
where  he  knew  the  shadows  would  be  deeper.  The 
organ  had  ceased,  and  he  heard  prayers.  He  shook 
with  inward  mockery,  confident  that  the  abbey, 
which  he  had  endowed  with  a  personality  and  had 
adopted  into  his  own  alliance,  would  reject  the 
prayers  as  contemptuously  as  he  himself  rejected 
them.  It  would  await  the  renewed  majesty  of  the 
organ  ...  To  Silas  the  organ  represented  no  hymn 
of  praise ;  it  represented  only  the  accompaniment  of 
storm ;  he  was  not  even  troubled,  because  he  did  not 
notice  them,  by  the  infantile  words  which  the  con- 
gregation fitted  to  its  chords.  It  had  never  occurred 
to  him  to  think  of  the  abbey  as  a  holy  temple  until 
he  came  by  chance  upon  a  thing  to  which  his  im- 
agination made  a  kindled  and  ravenous  response. 

For  once  he  had  not  made  for  himself  the  dis- 
covery of  this  new  theme  in  the  course  of  his  read- 
ing. He  owed  it,  a  resented  debt,  to  the  conversation 
of  his  mates  in  the  shops.  Silas,  listening,  had  felt 
his  ever-ready  contempt  surging  within  him;  it 
angered  him  to  learn  from  illiterate  men  of  a  subject 

that  he  alone  amongst  them  was  fitted  to  understand. 

106 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

They  skirted  round  it;  but  he  grasped  it  avidly, 
adopting  it,  as  though  a  niche  in  his  mind  had  been 
always  waiting  for  it.  He  took  it  with  him  to  the 
abbey,  like  a  man  carrying  something  secret  and 
deadly  under  his  cloak.     Black  Mass.  .  .  . 

He  scarcely  knew  what  it  meant.  He  took  it 
principally  as  a  symbol  of  distortion  and  mockery. 
It  seemed  to  be  one  of  the  phrases  and  summings 
up  he  had  always  been  searching  for,  he  who  liked  to 
condense  a  large  vague  district  of  imaginings  into 
a  final  phrase. 

When  he  remembered  Black  Mass  in  the  ordinary 
way,  he  smiled  in  satisfaction,  and  stowed  it  away 
as  a  secret;  but  when  he  thought  of  it  in  the  abbey 
he  hunched  himself  as  though  he  were  in  the  throes 
of  some  physical  pleasure.  In  bringing  that  thought 
w^ith  him  into  the  abbey  he  was  taunting  a  tremen- 
dous God,  a  revengeful  God;  and  he  exalted  fearfully 
in  the  latent  implication  of  his  own  daring.  Surely 
courage  could  go  no  further  than  the  defiance  of 
God!  His  ready  ecstasy  swept  him  away.  The 
world  he  lived  in  was  a  reversed  world,  where  dark- 
ness held  the  place  of  light;  in  the  world  of  his  soul 
a  similar  order  should  prevail.  Taut-strung,  he  cast 
around  for  some  piece  of  blasphemy,  some  mon- 

107 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

strous  thing  that  he  could  do, — he  did  not  know 
what.  He  only  knew  that  now  he  was  brave,  though 
it  might  be  with  the  courage  of  hysteria;  presently 
he  would  be  again  afraid.  He  dreaded  the  return  of 
his  cowardice.  He  had  not  been  a  coward  the  day 
he  had  killed  Hannah ;  only  afterwards ;  he  must  not 
dwell  upon  the  afterwards. 

He  had  no  weapon  with  him  in  the  church  except 
his  voice,  and  a  penknife  in  his  pocket. 

He  must  achieve  something;  something!  any- 
thing ! 

In  the  midst  of  his  excitement  he  took  it  into  his 
head  that  a  piece  of  the  ruined  masonry,  detached 
by  the  wind,  might  fall  in  upon  him  and  crush  him. 
Still  chattering  under  his  breath  to  himself,  his 
hands  nervously  working,  he  moved  closer  to  the 
shelter  of  the  pillar.  Here  he  felt  more  secure, 
but  still  the  gusts  of  storm  sent  waves  of  physical 
anxiety  through  him.  He  was  torn  between  that 
small  anxiety  and  the  illimitable  defiance. 

The  organ  swelled  out  again,  lifting  him  upon  its 
great  rhythm  as  a  wave  lifts  a  swimmer. 


108 


VII 


I 

It  was  on  the  same  unpropitious  evening  that 
Silas's  only  son  returned  to  his  home  from  Canada. 

The  train  discharging  him  at  Spalding,  he  fought 
his  way  against  wind  and  rain,  along  the  lonely  road 
on  the  top  of  the  dyke.  He  trudged  with  his  hands 
in  his  pockets  and  a  bundle  on  his  back,  the  peculiar 
bleakness  of  the  road  returning  familiarly  to  him 
after  his  absence  of  seven  years.  It  was  dark,  but 
through  occasional  rifts  the  moon  appeared,  show- 
ing him  the  floods;  they  were  familiar  too, — their 
wide  flat  stretches  lying  on  either  side  of  the  high 
dyke,  and  swept  by  the  East  Anglian  wind  straight 
from  the  North  Sea, — ^he  knew  in  his  very  bones  the 
shape  and  sensation  of  the  Fens;  this  was  home- 
coming. There  was  a  knowledge,  a  grasp  of  the  size, 
shape,  and  colour — almost  of  taste  and  smell — a  con- 
sciousness that  marked  off  home  from  any  other 

place. 

109 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

When  he  reached  the  village,  he  felt  in  similar 
manner  the  presence  of  the  factory  on  the  one  hand, 
and  of  the  abbey  on  the  other,  with  the  village  lying 
between  them.  His  boots  rang  on  the  stone  of  the 
pavements.  That  was  the  school,  and  this  the  con- 
cert-room .  .  .  He  reached  the  double  cottage 
of  his  father  and  his  uncle;  he  thought  he  would 
surprise  his  father  and  mother,  so  without  knocking 
he  turned  the  door-handle  and  went  in. 

Nan  was  still  sitting  by  the  table  on  which  her 
zither  lay;  her  hands  were  clasped  and  drooped 
listlessly.  Her  whole  attitude  betrayed  her  dejec- 
tion. Morgan  stood  by  the  range  talking.  They 
were  alone,  and  young  Dene  recoiled,  thinking  he 
had  broken  in  upon  strangers,  though  the  smile  was 
still  broadly  upon  his  face,  with  which  he  had  pre- 
pared to  greet  his  parents'  surprise. 

"Fve  made  a  mistake/'  he  muttered,  "this  used  to 
be  Silas  Dene's  cottage  .  . .  my  name's  Martin  Dene." 

He  was  a  bronzed  young  man,  with  thick  black 
hair,  a  Roman  nose,  and  a  fine  curved  mouth;  a 
proud  face,  like  the  face  upon  a  coin. 

"Can  you  tell  me  where  my  father  lives  now?" 
he  added.  He  looked  at  them  frankly ;  he  took  them 
for  a  young  married  couple. 

110 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"Why,  Martin!"  cried  Nan,  recognising  him. 

"Why,  it's  Nancy  Holden,"  he  said  almost  at  the 
same  moment.  They  greeted  one  another  gladly. 
"You're  married?  living  here?"  he  asked,  with  a 
glance  at  Morgan. 

"Married  to  your  uncle  Gregory.  ..." 

"No!  He  could  be  your  father!"  exclaimed 
young  Dene  naively,  and  again  he  glanced  at 
Morgan. 

"Oh,  no,"  said  Nan,  flushing,  and  she  hurried  on 
with  an  explanation,  "Your  father  lives  here  still, 
but  he  went  out  a  little  time  back;  he  said  he  was 
going,  to  the  abbey.  He'll  be  in  presently.  Sit 
down;  I'll  get  you  a  cup  of  tea." 

"But  Where's  mother?"  asked  Martin  Dene,  and 
in  his  impulsive,  attractive  manner  he  strode  across 
the  room,  flung  open  the  door  that  led  to  the  stair- 
case, and  shouted  "Mother!" 

II 

"What's  that?"  cried  Silas,  startling  them  all. 

They  had  not  heard  him  come  in.  He  stood  on 
the  threshold,  his  hand  outstretched,  the  likeness 
between   himself   and  his   son   strongly   apparent. 

Ill 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"What's  that?"  he  repeated;  "who's  that,  calling 
^Mother'  here?" 

"Silas,  it's  Martin  come  home,"  said  Nan,  who 
was  trembling  and  who  had  gone,  quite  unwittingly, 
closer  to  Morgan. 

"Martin?  it's  suited  him  to  come  back,  after  seven 
years?"  Silas  uttered  a  derisive  "Ho!"  He  added, 
"It's  too  late,  my  boy,  to  come  here  calling  ^Mother.' 
That's  rich,  that  is— eh,  Nan?" 

"What  d'you  mean  ?"  said  Martin  Dene,  swinging 
round. 

"Your  mother's  dead,  that's  what  I  mean." 

"Dead?'* 

"Yes,  dead  three  months  ago." 

"Dead!     Mother  dead?  why?  how?" 

"Tell  him.  Nan." 

"Look  here,"  said  Morgan,  speaking  for  the  first 
time,  "I'm  sorry  you've  got  to  learn  this  news.  .  .  ." 

"Oh,  smooth  it  over!  water  it  down!  I  didn't 
know  you  were  there.  Linnet,"  interrupted  Silas. 
"I'll  tell  him  myself.  Your  mother  was  killed  in 
an  accident — picked  up  unrecognisable — run  over 
by  a  train — now  you  know.    Got  anything  to  say?" 

"My  God!"  said  young  Dene,  covering  his  face. 

Nan  went  up  to  him  and  began  to  whisper  to  him ;  he 

112 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

heard  her  half  through  with  horribly  staring  gaze, 
but  then,  disregarding  her,  he  cried  in  a  hoarse  voice 
to  his  father,  "Accident  be  damned!  you  drove  her 
to  it.  I  know  your  ways — they  drove  me  away  to 
Canada,  and  Elsie  to  London — I've  seen  her  there 
— and  they  drove  mother  to  that — come,  own  up! 
it  was  suicide,  wasn't  it?"  He  made  a  movement 
towards  his  father,  but  Nan  clung  to  his  arm. 

"No,  I  swear  it  wasn't,"  replied  Silas,  full  of  a 
grim  amusement  at  his  suggestion. 

"Well,  how  did  it  happen,  then?  What's  your 
account  of  what  happened?    Did  any  one  see?" 

As  neither  of  the  others  answered,  Morgan  said, 
"Nobody  saw  it  happen." 

Martin  leapt  on  to  that.  "So  it  was  never 
explained?" 

"No,"  said  Morgan,  "the  coroner's  inquest  gave 
Accidental  Death."     Martin  laughed. 

"You're  going  now,  I  suppose?"  said  Silas, 
"Morgan's  answered  you,  and  his  answer  can  hardly 
satisfy  you.  Suspicion's  a  sleepless  guest  in  the 
mind." 

"You're  alone  now,  father?"  asked  the  son.  His 
tone  altered  as  a  sort  of  pity  and  repentance  over- 
came him,  and  as  he  remembered  his  father's  blind- 
»  113 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

ness.  "Perhaps  I  spoke  too  hasty,  father;  see  here, 
I'll  stop  on  with  you  if  you  like." 

"I  don't  like;  you  can  get  out,"  said  Silas.  Morgan 
and  Nan  gave  an  exclamation. 

"I'll  stop  to-night;  we're  not  calm,  either  of  us." 

*T  don't  remember  you  calm,  somehow?"  Silas 
sneered.  Martin's  temper,  which  he  had  controlled, 
rose  again. 

"I'll  get  out,  then,"  he  said,  moving  towards  the 
door.  Nan,  through  her  terror,  thought  him  very 
handsome, — bronze  and  black,  his  bony  cheeks 
still  glistening  from  the  rain. 

"You  needn't  bother  to  come  back,  after  another 
seven  years." 

"Don't  you  worry,  father;  I  won't  come  back." 

"Martin!"    cried    Nan.      This    flare    of    quarrel 

between  father  and  son  troubled  her  greatly;  it  was 

a  disturbance  of  harmony,  and  she  longed  for  the 

re-establishment  of  peace,  at  the  same  time  dreading 

further  questionings,  further  possible  accusations; 

Martin  would  probe  and  examine,  Silas  might  lose 

his  head, — Nan,  knowing  the  truth,  lived  in  the 

perpetual  terror  of  a  frenzied  outburst  of  candour 

on  Silas's  part  .  .  .  He  was,  she  knew,  quite  capable 

of  such  an  outburst.    Life,  and  the  harmony  of  life, 

114 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

would  be  less  endangered  with  Martin  out  of  the 
way.  But  this  was  an  unkind  greeting  for  Martin 
at  his  home — poor  Martin!  after  seven  years'  ab- 
sence and  a  trudge  in  the  rain,  to  find  his  mother 
dead  and  his  father  ferocious ! — Nan's  fund  of  pity 
overflowed,  and  she  tried  to  compromise :  ''Martin ! 
you  can't  walk  back  to  Spalding  through  this  awful 
night;  stop  till  to-morrow  with  Gregory,  and  me." 

"Not  he !"  said  Silas,  unexpectedly,  and  as  though 
he  spoke  with  pride. 

"You're  right,  father, — though  I  thank  you.  Nan; 
you  mean  it  kindly." 

"They  mean  everything  kindly,  Martin,"  said 
Silas,  indicating  the  other  two.  He  continued  to 
speak  with  the  same  curious  understanding  towards 
his  son.  Nan  and  Morgan,  separately,  stood  re- 
pudiated and  estranged. 

Martin  Dene  nodded,  his  eyes  meditatively  upon 
them. 

"Won't  you  stop,  Martin?"  urged  Nan's  timid 
voice. 

"I've  said  an  unforgivable  thing  to  father,"  he 
said,  turning  to  her,  in  patient  explanation. 

"But  you  didn't  think  it,  Martin ;  tell  your  father 
you  didn't  think  it." 

115 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"I  did  think  it;  I  still  think  it;  father  knows  that. 
I  shall  always  think  it.  That's  why  I  can't  stop. 
So  long,"  he  said,  shouldering  his  bundle ;  he  nodded 
to  them  again  and  went  out. 

Ill 

"Are  you  satisfied  now,  Silas,  are  you  satisfied?" 
Silas  kept  mumbling  to  himself  later  as  with  haste 
he  tore  his  clothes  off  in  the  dark. 

He  would  tell  Lady  Malleson — ^tell  her  that  he  had 
wantonly  thrown  out  his  own  son.  What  would  she 
think  of  that?  Once  she  had  said  he  was  terrible; 
he  hoped  that  she  would  say  it  again.  The  words 
had  crowned  him  with  a  rare  reward.  Surely  he  had 
earned  their  repetition  ? 

He  scrambled  into  his  bed;  lay  there  with  his 
muscles  jerking.  He  tautened  them,  trying  to  keep 
them  still,  but  could  not.  Martin,  yes ;  he  had  thrown 
out  Martin.  That  was  a  resolute  thing  to  do.  It  was 
all  of  a  piece  with  what  had  gone  before;  Hannah 
had  ministered  to  his  comfort;  in  a  rough  and  ready 
way,  it  was  true,  often  more  rough  than  ready;  but 
still  she  had  ministered ;  and  Hannah,  along  with  his 
personal  comfort  and  convenience,  had  been  sacri- 
ficed when  necessity  dictated.     (If  he  chose  to  con- 

116 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

sider  in  the  light  of  a  necessity  the  suspicion  of  an 
outrage  upon  his  own  sensitive  dignity  which  an- 
other man  might  have  dismissed  as  negHgible,  even 
inevitable,  that  was  his  own  business ;  nobody  else's.) 
Hannah  had  gone.  Now  Hannah's  son,  for  a  quick, 
intuitive  suspicion  of  his  father,  had  gone  too — 
thrown  out  to  founder,  possibly,  though  the  sequel 
was  now  no  concern  of  Silas's;  Martin  was  proud, 
Martin  would  not  return,  least  of  all  to  appeal  for 
help.  Lying  awake  in  the  night  that  to  him  was  no 
more  deeply  night  than  midday,  Silas  fought  his  re- 
gret for  Martin.  Martin  had  come,  his  memory  rich 
with  what  garnered  tales  of  peril?  he  had  led  a 
hunter's  life  among  red  men,  bony,  painted,  feathered 
men;  he  had  tracked  wounded  beasts,  either  great- 
horned  or  soft-footed;  he  had  dared  the  great 
solitudes,  blazed  his  way  through  forests,  and  taken 
his  chance  of  the  rapids ;  with  all  this,  Martin,  a  fine 
young  man,  would  have  beguiled  his  father's  ears 
and  opened  new  horizons  to  his  insatiable  fancy. 
Bringing  all  this  with  him,  like  a  pedlar's  pack, 
Martin  had  tramped  along  the  dyke  from  Spalding ; 
no  doubt  with  a  certain  pitiful  eagerness  he  made 
his  way  home  from  the  incredible  distance  of  that 
rough  primitive  world.     Tears   forced  themselves 

117 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

out  from  Silas's  sightless  eyes.  He  had  never  wept 
for  Hannah,  he  had  hated  Hannah,  even  when 
through  her  death  she  became,  poor  woman,  an 
object  of  satisfaction  to  his  insecure  vanity;  an 
object,  too,  of  allurement  to  his  prowling  cowardice. 
But  for  Martin  he  wept,  for  Martin  and  all  that 
Martin  stood  for.  Then  envy  shook  him,  that 
Martin,  free,  young,  keen-sighted,  and,  above  all, 
fearless, — fearlessness  was  the  only  true  freedom, — 
should  be  returning  to  that  worthy  life,  in  more 
ways  than  one  a  hunter  of  big  game.  Big  game! 
to  the  simple,  eager  nature  all  life  was  big  game. 
The  actual  quarry;  the  stake  in  a  hazardous  enter- 
prise; the  test  of  endurance;  or  the  interlude  of 
women, — all  that  was  big  game;  a  big,  audacious, 
masculine  game.  The  hint,  the  mere  passing 
suggestion,  of  enterprise  acted  as  a  sufficient  stimu- 
lant, under  which  his  imagination  flamed  at  once 
as  a  torch,  widening  a  bright,  lit  space  in  the 
darkness,  populating  it  with  figures  full  of  splendour, 
heroically  proportioned.  He  reached  out  to  another 
and  more  ardent  life,  away  from  the  security  in 
which  he  so  carefully  preserved  himself.  He  was 
pierced  through  by  the  sheer  valour  of  man,  as  a 

shaft  of  light  might  on  a  sudden  have  pierced  his 

118 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

darkness.  He  beheld  man,  small,  imperfect,  but 
dauntless;  sustained  by  a  spirit  of  extraordinary 
intrepidity,  intent  upon  the  double  mastery  of  his 
planet  and  of  his  own  soul;  man,  stern  against  his 
own  weakness,  checked  here  and  thwarted  there  by 
the  inner  treachery  of  his  own  heart,  foiled  in  his 
ambitions,  cast  down  from  such  summits  as  he  had 
attained,  but  ever  fighting  forward  in  the  pursuit 
of  an  end  perhaps  undistinguishable,  to  which  the 
path  of  conquest,  so  difficult,  so  jeopardous,  was 
in  itself  a  measure  of  recompense.  So  he  was  blind, 
as  blind  as  Silas  himself;  the  more  honourable 
because,  despite  his  blindness,  he  still  wrought 
undeterred. 

How  various  were  his  pursuits,  his  methods  of 
conquest!  to  maintain  and  advance  himself  in  the 
supreme  captaincy;  so  diverse  the  images  of  vigour 
which  the  labourer  in  his  activity  was  too  simple  to 
suspect.  There  were  men  who  wrested  from  the 
earth  the  last  guarded  secrets,  pitting  their  limbs 
against  forest,  mountain,  ice,  or  waterless  plain; 
only  their  soft  limbs  against  the  giant  sentries  of 
unhandseled  nature;  those  who  scored  the  monot- 
onous sea  with  the  rich  and  coloured  roads  of 
commerce,  heaping  in  the  harbours  of  the  world 

119 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

the  strangeness  of  cargoes,  always  strange  because 
always  exotic;  those  who  tilled  the  responsive  soil; 
the  hunters,  the  fighters,  and  the  princes;  others 
who,  living  their  true  life,  sequestered  and  apart  by 
reason  of  their  austere  calling,  through  a  patience  so 
immense  that  the  profound  darkness  of  the  mysteries 
with  which  it  dealt  was  punctuated  by  reward  of 
fresh  light  only  here  and  there  along  the  wide-spaced 
generations,  gained  fragment  by  fragment  the 
knowledge  of  the  ordering  of  distant  worlds;  the 
women  who  bore  the  burden  of  fresh  lives, — ^he 
could  feel  himself  alien  to  none  of  these,  neither  to 
the  law-givers  nor  the  law-breakers ;  the  acquiescent 
nor  the  rebellious;  no,  nor  the  spare  anchorite  who 
aspired  through  lonely  frugality  and  penance 
towards  the  same  summit  of  domination;  he 
stretched  out  his  hand,  alike  to  king  and  prostitute, 
and  with  the  falling  strove  still  to  uplift  the  tattered 
standard,  and  with  the  multitude  of  the  triumphant 
marched  upon  the  road  of  pride.  All  this  he  saw 
with  a  clarity,  a  wholeness  that  was  in  the  nature  of 
actual  beholding  far  more  than  of  the  blurred  con- 
fusion of  a  vision.  He  had  his  landscape  under  sharp 
sunlight,  precision  of  detail  allying  itself  with 
breadth  of  horizon.     He  saw,  too,  skulking  in  and 

120 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

out  amongst  the  pageantry  rich  with  legend  that 
went  its  way  under  windy  banners,  he  saw  dark, 
puny,  ignoble  figures ;  not  one  of  them  bore  the  tool 
of  an  honest  craft,  but  small  forked  tongues  darted 
between  their  lips ;  and  in  his  abasement  he  included 
himself  in  their  number,  and  questioned  whether  the 
rest  of  them,  damned  spirits,  worshipped  in  secret, 
as  he  did,  the  magnificence  they  must  envenom 
because  they  could  not  share  ? 

IV 

Then  with  a   rush   of    incredulous   disgust   the 

constituents  of  his  own  existence  stood  out  in  the 

same  white  light;  confused,  craven,  petty;  a  tangle 

that  he  despised  and  loathed  with  a  weak  fury,  the 

more  that  he  could  not  extricate  himself.     Envy 

without  emulation,  spite  without  hatred,  violence 

without  strength !    Then  the  personages :  Hambley, 

the    lick-spittle    go-between;    Christine    Malleson, 

whose  pretended  mental  companionship  with  him 

disguised  the  claw  of  cruelty;   inanimate  objects, 

the  floods,  the  gale;  Hannah,  a  ghost  now,  not 

a  personage,  a  ghost  that  gave  him  no  rest,  try  as 

he  would  to  weld  the  whole  incident  to  his  own  uses, 

to    the    furtherance    of    his    own    self-confidence; 

121 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

Martin,  sacrificed  for  the  same  purpose;  Nan,  the 
object  of  an  as  yet  ill-defined,  floating  malevolence 
that  crouched  ready  for  a  spring  on  to  the  back  of 
the  first  poor  pretext;  all  the  men,  his  fellows,  in 
whom  he  amused  himself  by  fostering  dissatisfac- 
tion; and,  lastly,  he  found  that  he  must  include  an 
animal  in  this  lamentable  population, — the  donkey 
on  the  green,  that,  no  less  than  the  others,  had,  that 
evening,  fallen  a  victim  to  his  need  for  mischief; 
the  coarse  pelt  was  still  vivid  under  his  fingers,  as 
he  had  slid  his  hand  down  the  leg,  till  he  came  to 
the  fetlock,  and  he  remembered  now  the  sharp 
puncture  of  the  knife  into  the  sinew,  and  the  animal's 
start  of  pain — to  this,  to  this  had  he  sunk !  when  he 
crept  out  from  the  abbey,  his  soul  seething  with 
blasphemy,  and  his  fingers  closing  over  the  penknife 
in  his  pocket !  A  small,  mad  deed, — all  that  his  soul 
in  travail  could  bring  forth.  In  this  deed,  tinily 
terrible,  had  his  exaltation  culminated ;  the  exaltation 
engendered  by  storm,  by  the  disaster  on  the  dyke, 
by  the  organ  swelling  in  the  ruined  abbey,  by  the 
suggestion  of  the  Black  Mass. 

He  rolled  from  side  to  side  in  his  bed,  tearing  at 
the  blankets  with  his  teeth. 

He  directed  his  despair  and   fury  then  against 
122 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

Christine  Malleson,  making  her  responsible  for  this 
ruthless  savagery  which  always  possessed  him, 
without  system  or  goal  beyond  a  need  to  damage 
everything  that  was  happy,  prosperous,  and  entire. 
True,  she  was  partly  responsible ;  she  was  responsible 
for  the  pranks  of  experiment  that  she  played  upon 
him,  stirring  and  poking  his  mind,  his  ambitions, 
into  a  blaze,  and  the  chill  ''Don't  forget  yourself," 
with  which  she  quenched  the  flame.  He  raged 
against  Christine :  she  had  him  at  a  disadvantage ;  he 
must  strive  always  to  compete  with  her  serenity  of 
class ;  she  drew  him  out  from  his  own  class,  aroused 
his  angry  socialism,  laughed  at  the  gaps  in  his  know- 
ledge, gave  him  glimpses  of  a  life  whose  significance 
and  habit  he  could  never  encompass,  but  which  he 
burnt  with  an  envious  hatred  to  destroy;  then  she 
would  laugh  at  him  again, — she,  who  had  come  down 
from  her  heights  to  walk  curiously  in  his  valleys, — 
she  would  laugh,  and  he  would  fling  away  into  fresh 
magniloquence,  seeking  to  impress  her;  and  when 
the  time  came  for  him  to  take  his  leave,  the  excitable 
irritation  provoked  by  her  remained  still  unappeased, 
consuming  his  vitals.  But  this  he  believed  she  did 
not  suspect.     So  far  as  he  knew,  he  had  deceived 

her;  he  had  passed  off  upon  her  the  old  fraud  of 

123 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

making  her  believe  him  strong  when  he  was,  in 
reality,  the  bewildered,  unhappy  prey  of  his  own 
weakness.  The  thought  that  he  had  so  deceived  her 
gave  him  a  little  satisfaction.  He  would  tell  her 
about  Martin;  she  would  catch  her  breath.  He 
would  not  tell  her  about  the  donkey.  And  he 
swayed  again  from  the  paltry  tangle  of  his  own  life 
to  the  bright  heroic  visions  that  alone  contented  him, 
weeping  with  an  incurable  sorrow,  but  whether  for 
Martin  or  the  vague  grandeur  of  the  unattainable, 
he  could  not  well  have  said. 


124 


VIII 
I 

If  the  floods  would  but  retreat!  If  the  winter 
would  but  dissolve  and  allow  spring  to  break  over 
the  land!  Then  the  rich  black  loam  of  the  fields 
would  appear  in  the  place  of  the  water, — ^that  flat 
and  cruel,  unprofitable  water, — and  the  country 
under  the  blush  of  green  would  cease  to  be  so  mourn- 
ful, rayless,  and  forbidding.  The  floods  were  so 
dead;  dead  brown,  dead  level;  there  was  no  life  in 
them,  except  sometimes  under  the  red  sun,  a  fierce, 
angry  sort  of  life,  and  sometimes  when  the  wind 
beat  them;  but  now  gray  rainy  day  succeeded  gray 
rainy  day,  mild  indeed,  but  not  spring,  not  the  spring 
of  clear  sunlit  showers  and  rainbows!  It  would  be 
a  dark,  fertile  country  that  came  to  light,  curiously 
un-English  in  its  effect  of  unboundaried  acreage, 
wide  ditches  marking  off  the  fields  in  the  place  of 
hedges.    Ditches  and  dykes  would  remain  as  the  scar 

and  testimony  of  the  floods,  the  dykes  that  like  some 

125 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

Roman  aqueduct  stretched  away  into  the  flat  and 
misty  distances. 

Yearly  Nan  Hved  through  the  winter  in  the  hope 
of  such  a  spring,  and  almost  yearly  it  failed  hen 
She  was  drawn  towards  spring  with  an  instinct  of 
unsatisfied  youth.  It  appeared  to  her  like  a  vista 
cut  in  the  darkness  of  the  life  she  led  between  Silas 
and  Gregory. 

The  population  of  her  world  was  so  restricted; 
in  very  early  days  she  had  been  sharply  taught  that 
Gregory  would  neither  welcome  his  wife's  friends 
at  his  fireside,  nor  allow  her  to  go  to  theirs.  She 
had  never  forgotten  the  written  message  he  had  left 
for  her  on  the  table  in  the  first  week  of  their  mar- 
riage, having  found  her  laughing  in  the  kitchen 
with  another  girl :  "No  prying  eyes  here,  missis." 
The  Denes,  she  learnt,  were  as  sensitive  as  they  were 
savage  and  solitary,  and,  so  strong  was  the  legend 
that  they  had  created  around  themselves,  that  she 
had  found  herself  quickly  alienated  from  the  rest 
of  the  village  and  definitely  regarded  as  of  the  com- 
pany inhabiting  the  lonely  cottage.  Silas,  Gregory, 
Linnet  Morgan,  Donnithorne  sometimes,  Mr.  Cal- 
thorpe.    That  was  all.    The  two  dominating  figures 

were  Silas  and  Gregory;  she  was  more  frightened 

126 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

of  Silas  than  of  Gregory,  because  of  her  secret 
knowledge,  but  Gregory  was  like  a  stranger  to  her ; 
she  was  submissive  to  him  but  felt  no  nearness,  no 
intimacy;  he  was  more  closely  allied  to  Silas  than 
to  her.  Of  Linnet  Morgan  she  thought  with  shy 
and  oddly  pleasurable  evasion.  Of  Calthorpe,  with 
confidence ;  she  liked  his  well-brushed  hair,  precisely 
parted  down  one  side,  and  the  close  pointed  beard 
that  gave  him  a  certain  robust  dignity  and  rather 
the  appearance  of  a  sailor;  thinking  of  Calthorpe 
was  like  leaning  up  against  a  solid  and  stable  build- 
ing. He  looked  at  her  with  great  kindliness  now, 
when  she  talked  to  him;  she  had  always  wanted 
somebody  to  look  at  her  like  that.  It  awoke,  too, 
in  her  a  certain  pride :  she  had  trained  this  big  man 
in  the  part  she  wanted  him  to  play;  she,  so  small, 
had  taught  him,  so  large,  a  trick,  and  whenever  she 
brought  him  her  confidences,  and  he  responded  with 
that  look  so  full  of  kindliness,  he  was  doing  the 
trick  she  had  trained  him,  against  his  will,  to  do. 
This  gave  her  a  proprietary  sense  in  him.  She  found 
him  very  docile.  He,  on  his  part,  loved  her  for  her 
little  domineering  manner. 

It   was   only   when   she    returned   to    Silas   and 

Gregory  that  she   was   made   to   realise  her   own 

127 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

futility.  Against  the  weak  pushing  of  her  hands 
they  remained  immovable.  .  .  . 

Then  she  fell  sometimes  into  despair,  and  her 
courage  crumpled.  For  days  she  would  be  silent, 
then  with  an  effort  she  would  bring  out  her  zither 
and  sing,  until  before  their  contempt  her  voice 
would  trail  away  again  miserably  into  silence. 

She  longed  for  the  retreat  of  the  floods  and  the 
end  of  the  winter,  because  now  the  country  and 
the  year  seemed  to  be  conspiring  with  Silas  and 
Gregory. 

II 

Once  she  tried  to  bring  about  a  complete  revolu- 
tion in  all  their  lives;  only  once.  She  was  really 
half-crazy  with  despair  when  she  made  the  attempt; 
nothing  else  could  have  given  her  the  courage.  As 
it  was,  she  was  intimidated  by  her  own  audacity, 
for  by  nature  she  accepted  circumstances  without 
questioning.  Inaugurations  terrified  her;  yet  here 
was  she,  Nan,  inaugurating. 

She  sat  at  the  table,  under  the  lamp,  Silas  and 
Gregory  on  either  side  of  her,  the  remains  of  supper 
before  them.  She  sat  twisting  her  hands;  swallow- 
ing hard. 

128 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

She  began,  ''Shall  we  be  here  always?"  then 
stopped,  then  plunged  on  again,  ''living  always  here, 
with  the  floods  every  winter,  all  the  winter  through  ? 
Why  shouldn't  we  go  away,  somewhere  else,  if  we 
choose?  Why  shouldn't  we?"  she  cried  suddenly, 
in  a  frightened  voice,  as  nobody  answered. 

She  looked  at  Silas  and  Gregory;  Silas  was  smil- 
ing, and  Gregory  was  smiling  too,  in  a  twisty, 
derisive  way,  as  though  he  knew  what  she  had  been 
talking  about.  Yet  he  couldn't  know.  Silas  had 
a  look  of  surprise  and  amusement;  grateful  sur- 
prise, as  though  she  had  provided  him  with  an  un- 
expected amusement  in  an  hour  of  boredom. 

"Go  on !"  he  said  to  her. 

At  that  she  felt  all  her  source  of  boldness,  of 
inventiveness,  dried  up  within  her.  What  was  the 
good  of  this  struggle  for  escape  when  she  was 
hemmed  in,  not  only  by  the  floods  and  the  dykes, 
but  by  those  two  immovable  men  who  owned  her? 
But  her  terror  urged  against  her  hopelessness;  and 
was  the  stronger. 

"Can  you  like  living  here?"  she  appealed  to  Silas, 
trying  to  touch  him  upon  his  own  inclinations. 

"As  well  here  as  anywhere  else,"  he  answered.    "I 

work  here." 

129 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

She  knew  the  bitterness  that  edged  his  voice 
whenever  he  mentioned  his  work. 

"You  tie  up  parcels  in  a  packing-shed,"  she  said, 
"always  the  same, — work  that  a  half-wit  could  do. 
Yes,  a  poor  wanting  creature  could  do  your  work. 
Why  don't  you  bestir  yourself?  Why  don't  you 
come  away?"  She  talked  so,  knowing  that  she 
strained  to  pull  a  weight  that  lay  solid  against  her 
small  strength. 

If  only  Silas  or  Gregory  would  get  up,  she  thought 
that  with  that  insignificant  display  of  mobility  her 
hope  would  revive ;  but  they  sat  on  either  side  of  her, 
cast  in  bronze.  If  they  were  doomed  men,  then  they 
made  no  effort  to  escape  their  doom.  Too  proud, 
perhaps.  They  sat  and  waited.  They  seemed  too 
indifferent  to  care. 

"Nobody's  put  you  in  prison  into  Abbot's 
Etchery,"  she  murmured. 

Yet  they  were  so  like  prisoners,  Silas  in  his  dark- 
ness, Gregory  in  his  silence,  that  she  almost  looked 
for  gyves  about  their  wrists  and  ankles.  When 
they  stirred,  it  should  have  been  to  the  accompani- 
ment of  a  heavy  clank.  When  Silas  fought,  when 
he  cried  aloud,  it  was  the  struggle  of  a  chained  man. 
But  his  struggles  were  so  ineffective ;  Nan,  who  was 

130 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

not  oppressed  from  within,  but  only  from  without, 
thought  that  he  could  help  himself  if  he  would. 
She  had  all  the  impatience  of  the  naturally  buoyant 
with  the  dogged  tragedy  of  the  fatalistic. 

"Come  away,"  she  urged.  "What  is  it  that  keeps 
you  here?  There  are  warm,  pretty  places.  Let's* 
make  the  best  of  things." 

"I  might  get  away  from  Abbot's  Etchery,  I 
shouldn't  be  getting  away  from  myself,"  said 
Silas. 

Nan  cried  out,  ''Can't  one  get  away?  Who  says 
so  ?    Isn't  it  in  our  own  hands  ?" 

"Is  it?"  replied  Silas,  letting  drop  the  sorrowful 
query  as  though  it  were  rather  the  echo  of  a  per- 
petual self-communion  revolving  in  his  soul,  than 
an  idle  response. 

The  old  mournfulness,  the  old  anguish,   closed 

down  upon  them  again.     They  were  like  haunted 

people,  who  would  not  help  themselves.  They  seemed 

haunted  by  the  past, — which  contained  indeed  the 

death  of  Hannah,  a  death  so  rough  and  dingy, — 

by  the  present,  and  by  the  overcharged  future.     But 

their  dread  was  not  to  be  defined;  it  was  of  the 

nature  of  a  mystic  sentence,  presaged  from  a  long 

way  off.     Sometimes  she  thought  that  they  were 

131 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

afraid  of  themselves;  sometimes  that  they  were  too 
apathetic  to  be  afraid.  Only  Silas  made  his  dungeon 
clamorous  sometimes  with  his  wild  revolt,  that  led 
to  nothing,  to  no  change,  to  no  illumination. 

Ill 

Calthorpe  found  her  sitting  listless  in  a  corner. 
She  showed  a  hunted  preference  for  corners,  and  for 
shelter  behind  furniture. 

**Why,  you're  pale,"  he  said.  He  came  closer, 
"You're  wan." 

She  did  a  rare  thing:  she  put  her  hand  into  his 
and  let  him  hold  it,  which  he  did  as  though  it  were 
a  child's.  He  was  overcome  by  her  smallness  and 
frailty;  she  seemed  to  be  almost  transparent,  and 
her  features  were  tiny  and  delicate,  but  her  eyes 
were  large  as  she  raised  them.  "Not  ill?"  he  asked. 
"No,"  she  replied,  "only  tired  and  afraid." 

"Afraid  of  what?" 

"No,  not  afraid  really;  only  worn." 

"Yes,  indeed;  you're  like  a  little  wraith.  You'd 
blow  away  in  a  puff." 

He  could  not  rouse  her  at  all;  she  made  no  com- 
plaint, but  sat  very  quiet  and  beaten,  letting  her 

hand  lie  in  his.     In  reply  to  his  questions,  she  kept 

132 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

on  saying  that  she  was  tired.  He  knew  that  she 
meant  spiritually,  not  physically,  tired.  She  was 
very  polite  to  him,  saying  ''No,  thank  you,  Mr. 
Calthorpe,"  and  he  found  her  extremely  pitiable, 
but  his  science  failed  him  when  he  tried  to  think 
of  a  remedy.  He  could  only  sit  alternately  patting 
and  pressing  her  hand.  She  gave  him  a  grateful 
smile,  at  length. 

"You  do  me  good,  just  by  being  there.'* 

"Come,  that's  better;  won't  you  tell  me  now  what 
was  the  matter?" 

"I  only  want  to  be  happy,"  she  said  suddenly, 
and  her  mouth  quivered  beyond  her  control,  so  she 
bit  her  under-lip  and  looked  away. 

"Oh,  my  dear !  my  dear  1"  said  poor  Calthorpe. 

*T  want  to  run  by  the  sea,  over  the  sands,"  she 
cried,  as  though  her  heart  had  burst  its  compressing 
bonds;  *T  used  to  live  by  the  sea  once,  in  the  south, 
and  I  think  about  it  .  .  .  and  the  birds  nesting. 
There  were  gulls  upon  all  the  rocks.  There  were 
white  splashes  down  the  rocks.  It  wasn't  home. 
But  I'm  homesick,  I  think." 

"You're  just  a  child,"  said  Calthorpe.  "You  want 
to  play.    Poor  little  soul !" 

"Oh,  how  kind  you  are,"  she  said,  and  he  felt  her 
133 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

fingers  flutter  within  his  hand.     *T  get  so  tired  of 
fighting,  sometimes.  ..." 

* 'Won't  you  tell  me  just  exactly  what  you're 
fighting  against?"  He  was  very  patient  and  full  of 
pity,  but  believing  her  to  be  slightly  hysterical  he 
had  the  reasonable  man's  reliance  on  a  calm  state- 
ment of  her  difficulties  to  disperse  much  of  their 
bogie-mist. 

She  only  said,  however,  "I  don't  know." 

("Hysteria,"  he  thought.  If  she  had  said, 
"Forces  of  darkness,"  he  would  have  started  mis- 
trustfully, without  allowing  himself  to  be  impressed. 
But  she  was  too  ignorant  to  use  the  phrase. ) 

"Come,  then,"  he  said  heartily,  "it  can't  be  a  very 
serious  enemy  if  you  can't  give  it  a  name, — what?" 

"It's  everything,"  she  said,  "the  floods, — I  hate 
them, — ^the  factory  ...  If  the  factory  would  stop, 
sometimes,  but  it  never  does :  always  that  black 
smoke,  and  the  men  working  in  shifts  to  keep  it 
going,  and  then  the  men  always  talking  about  wages, 
and  sometimes  the  strikes.  Even  the  abbey  gets 
to  be  like  the  factory." 

"You're  fanciful,"  said  Calthorpe. 

"Anybody  would  get  fanciful,  living  with  Silas 
and  Gregory,"  she  replied  mournfully. 

134 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

How  she  changed!  he  reflected.  Sometimes  she 
ordered  him  about,  and  sometimes  she  came  to  him 
like  a  child  for  consolation.  Whatever  her  mood, 
he  never  ventured  upon  familiarity.  He  told  him- 
self sometimes  with  irritation  that  he  had  never 
been  kept  so  at  arm's  length  by  an  otherwise  friendly 
woman.  He  was  a  wholesome  and  masculine  man, 
and  he  had  a  wholesome  and  masculine  liking  for 
the  company  of  woman  in  his  hours  of  relaxation, 
and  in  regarci  to  Nan  had  certainly  intended  their 
friendship  to  run  upon  different  lines,  harmless 
enough,  but  perhaps  a  little  more  stimulating;  he 
found,  however,  that  quite  quietly  it  was  she  who 
decided  the  direction,  while  he  in  aggrieved  but  un- 
protesting  surprise  fell  meekly  in  w^ith  her  wishes. 
He  often  told  himself  that  he  was  wasting  his  time, 
and  would  go  no  more  to  the  Denes'  cottage,  but  he 
always  broke  his  resolution. 

"Is  Morgan  no  help  to  you  ?  he's  something  young 
about  the  house." 

*T  don't  speak  to  him  much,  he's  always  in  his 
books.  I  wish  you  lived  in  the  house,  Mr.  Cal- 
thorpe." 

"I  wish  I  did.  Nan."  But  on  the  whole,  he 
thought,  he  was  glad  he  didn't. 

135 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

IV 

Morgan,  whom  Nan  represented  as  being  always 
in  his  books,  was  by  incHnation  a  scientist,  but  for 
the  moment,  until  he  had  the  means  to  devote  him- 
self to  his  profession,  he  managed  that  branch  of 
the  factory  concerned  with  scents  and  powders. 

He  worked  among  shining  alembics  and  great- 
bellied  bottles  of  dark  green  glass,  standing  round 
his  room  in  rows. 

The  latticed  window  was  hung  with  cobwebs. 
The  table  was  littered  with  bottles,  saucepans,  test- 
tubes,  and  little  flames  burning.  Of  all  things  in 
the  room,  the  alembics  alone  were  kept  clean,  gleam- 
ing bright  brass  globes,  pair  by  pair,  connected  by 
twisting  pipes,  and  ever  dripping  the  distilled,  over- 
powering scent  into  dishes  put  ready  to  receive  it. 
They  shone  out  from  the  disorder  of  the  room. 
Canisters  ranged  round  the  walls  on  shelves :  ben- 
zoin, civet,  frankincense,  ambergris, — the  names  on 
the  labels  smouldered  as  a  group  of  Asiatics  among 
ordinary  people. 

Nan  was  sent  up  with  a  message  to  him  in  this 
room. 

She  appeared  in  the  doorway,  continuing  to  knock 
as  she  pushed  open  the  door,  in  the  bright  blue 

136 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

overall  she  wore  when  at  her  work.  She  was  smil- 
ing shyly,  as  though  she  expected  a  welcome.  But 
he  did  not  immediately  see  her.  He  was  bending 
with  great  absorption  over  a  little  pair  of  scales, 
weighing  a  quantity  of  grains,  and  when  he  had 
done  this  he  poured  the  grains  very  carefully  into  a 
kind  of  box,  which  he  set  above  a  small  lamp  to 
heat.  Then  as  he  wiped  his  hands  on  a  piece  of 
linen,  he  caught  sight  of  her. 

"Mrs.  Dene !  What  brings  you  here?  what  bit  of 
luck?    What  extraordinary  bit  of  luck?" 

He  went  to  her,  drew  her  into  the  room,  and  shut 
the  door.  He  gazed  at  her  with  incredulous  delight. 
He  wanted  to  touch  her,  to  make  sure  that  she  was 
real. 

"Why  don't  you  tell  me?"  he  queried,  as  she  stood 
there  smiling  but  not  speaking. 

As  she  delivered  her  message,  every  word  seemed 
to  give  birth  to  an  unspoken,  irrelevant  flight  of 
words  that  fluttered  round  them  with  ghostly  rustle 
of  wings,  finding  no  resting-place.  When  she  had 
finished,  she  stood  irresolute. 

*T  must  go  back." 

Her  eyes  roamed  over  the  room,  and  every  now 
and  then  swept  over  him  in  passing.    They  caressed 

137 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

him  in  that  quick,  diffident,  gentle  way  she  had. 
They  rested  with  a  mild  dismay  on  all  his  disorder, 
and  a  pucker  of  trouble  appeared  between  her  brows. 

"What's  the  matter,  Mrs.  Dene?" 

**0h,  your  things  want  straightening,"  she  mur- 
mured in  tones  of  distress.  ''Doesn't  any  one  have 
charge  of  your  room  ?  The  dust, — look  at  it  1  The 
litter!" 

She  moved  to  his  table  as  though  her  deft  hands 
were  yearning  towards  it.  She  made  little  tentative 
touches  at  his  things,  while  he  watched  her.  She 
looked  at  him  to  see  whether  she  was  annoying 
him. 

"Oh,  do  you  mind?" 

"On  the  contrary,  I  like  to  see  you  doing  it." 

She  gained  courage. 

"You  haven't  a  duster,  have  you?" 

He  discovered  a  duster  in  the  table  drawer  and 
gave  it  to  her;  like  all  good  workmen,  she  was 
heartened  by  the  touch  of  an  instrument,  however 
humble,  of  her  natural  work.  She  picked  things  up 
and  set  them  down  more  briskly,  saying  meanwhile, 
half  in  excuse  for  her  briskness, — 

"I  must  hurry,  or  they'll  be  missing  me  down- 


138 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"You  can  say  I  kept  you.  Fll  find  something 
for  you  to  take  to  the  forewoman;  that'll  be  an 
excuse." 

"An  excuse — is  that  right,  do  you  think?  But 
your  room  is  in  a  mess,  isn't  it  ?  It  can't  have  been 
touched  for  months.     Does  no  one  clean  up?" 

"No,  I  won't  let  them." 

"You  ought  to  have  told  me,"  she  said,  greatly 
distressed.  "I  am  so  sorry  ...  I  didn't  think. 
Some  men  are  like  that,  I  know.  They  think  they 
can  find  things  better.  But  I  haven't  tidied;  look, 
nothing  has  been  moved." 

"I  told  you  I  liked  to  see  you  doing  it." 

"You  were  civil,"  she  said,  not  comforted. 

"No,  I'm  never  civil." 

"Oh  yes,  Mr.  Morgan ;  you  can't  help  it,  if  you're 
civil  in  your  heart.  It  comes  kindly,  to  folk  who 
laugh  as  much  as  you  do." 

"You  laugh  too;  I've  heard  you  laughing  down- 
stairs, in  the  workroom.  You  and  I  laugh  more 
than  Silas  and  Gregory." 

"Gregory  can't  laugh,"  she  said  gravely. 

For  a  moment  their  chatter  stopped  quite  short. 
Then  she  began  again, — 

"I  must  go  now,  Mr.  Morgan." 
139 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"No,  stay;  you  shall  look  at  some  of  my  things," 
he  cried,  making  a  movement  to  detain  her.  ''These 
are  the  alembics  where  the  scent  is  distilled,"  he 
went  on;  "of  course,  these  are  only  the  small  ones 
that  I  use  for  my  own  experiments ;  I  expect  you've 
seen  the  big  ones  in  the  shed  downstairs. 

"The  shed  all  littered  with  sandal- wood  shavings  ? 
I  like  it;  it  smells  good." 

"It  smells  good  here  in  my  room  too,  don't  you 
think?  That's  because  of  the  scent  dripping  from 
the  alembics.  You  see  it  drips  into  these  pannikins 
that  are  put  there  to  catch  it.  They  are  all  new 
scents — new  combinations  of  scents,  that  is — ^that 
I'm  trying."  He  was  eager,  both  for  the  sake  of  his 
work  and  in  his  anxiety  to  hold  her  interest.  "Now 
I'll  show  you  some  of  the  raw  material ;  it  doesn't  al- 
ways smell  good  before  we've  been  to  work  upon  it." 

He  wondered  whether  he  might  take  her  arm, 

whether  he  might  venture.     She  was  like  the  little 

bird  to   which  he   always   compared   her,   and   as 

easily  scared!     He  turned  the  question  over  and 

over  in  his  mind  while  he  was  talking,  now  bracing 

himself  to  be  bold,   now   shrinking  back;   almost 

moving    towards    her;    but    while    hesitation    still 

swirled  within  his  mind  he  found  that  his  hand  had, 

140 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

quite  simply,  taken  hers.  ''It's  so  natural,  so  fitting, 
for  me  to  take  her  hand,  that  she  hasn't  even 
noticed,"  he  thought  with  joy. 

'These  are  the  canisters  where  I  keep  my  raw 
stuff,"  he  said,  pointing  to  the  tin  canisters  ranged 
on  shelves.  They  stood  hand  in  hand  reading  the 
names  on  the  labels. 

"Ambergris — that's  the  name  of  a  scent  I  bottle/' 
she  said,  with  a  little  laugh.  'T  use  a  lavender  rib- 
bon for  that.  And  orris — that's  the  powder.  Don't 
they  have  queer  names?  Opoponax,  that  always 
makes  me  laugh." 

They  laughed  together  over  opoponax. 

"And  there's  names  out  of  Scripture,"  she  said, 
"frankincense  and  myrrh." 

He  took  down  the  tin  of  benzoin,  and  made  her 
smell  it,  shaking  some  of  the  brittle  stuff  into  the 
palm  of  her  hand;  crumbling  up  her  hand  into  a 
cup,  and  guiding  it  now  to  her  nose  and  now  to  his 
own.  They  compared  their  tastes;  "I  think  this 
sort  smells  nicest,"  she  said  to  him,  gravely  holding 
out  her  cupped  hand,  but  he  would  not  agree,  after 
bending  over  it  with  the  deliberation  of  a  practised 
critic,   and  added  a  little   storax,  which,   he  said, 

brought  out  the  pungency  of  the  benzoin. 

141 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"All  these  gums  and  resins,'*  he  said,  "come  from 
trees ;  you  cut  a  gash  in  the  tree,  and  the  gum  comes 
from  it  like  blood  from  a  wound,  oozing  out.  And 
one  of  them — labdanum — is  got  by  the  natives  by 
beating  the  bush  with  long  whips;  or  sometimes 
they  get  it  by  combing  the  beards  of  the  goats  which 
have  been  browsing  off  the  bush." 

That  made  her  laugh  too,  but  she  was  impressed  by 
his  knowledge,  and  that  made  him  laugh  in  his  turn. 

"Now  I'll  show  you  the  woods, — you  said  you 
liked  the  sandal-wood;  well;  this  is  cedar,  don't  you 
like  that  even  better?  Shall  I  give  you  some  to 
take  away  in  a  little  packet?  you  can  keep  it  with 
your  clothes,  like  the  sachets  you  tie  up  downstairs." 
He  thought  with  a  momentary  panic  that  he  might 
have  offended  her  by  referring  to  her  clothes,  but  the 
hint  of  intimacy  in  the  suggestion  pleased  and 
troubled  him  so  much  that  he  was  glad  he  had  taken 
the  risk  for  the  sake  of  that  pleasure. 

She  was  not  offended ;  she  only  blushed  a  little. 

"That  will  be  nice, — but  I'm  taking  all  your  time, 
Mr.  Morgan." 

"Oh  no;  I  have  plenty  of  time,  and  there's  lots 

more  that  I  could  show  you.    I  could  tell  you  a  good 

deal,  too,  that  might  amuse  you :  how  the  Egyptians 

142 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

used  to  embalm  their  mummies,  and  how  an  Assy- 
rian king  caused  himself  to  be  burnt  with  all  his 
wives  on  a  high  pyre  of  scented  boughs  sooner  than 
fall  into  the  hands  of  an  enemy.  And  how  the 
Chinese  hunt  for  musk ;  this  is  musk ;  it  doesn't  smell 
nice  in  this  state,  but  it's  very  precious.  This  is  attai^ 
of  roses  in  this  little  bottle ;  smell  very  carefully.  Let 
me  hold  it  for  you.    Do  you  like  my  things  ?'"' 

She  liked  his  things  very  much. 

"Do  you  think  my  room  less  untidy  and  dusty, 
now  that  you  know  there  are  other  things  in  it  be- 
sides dust  and  untidiness  ?" 

"All  those  tins,  full  of  sweet  scents,'*  she  said 
unexpectedly.  "Only,  I  ought  to  go  back  to  my 
work  now,  don't  you  think?  You  said  you  would 
give  me  something  to  take  to  the  forewoman." 

"But  you  said  that  wasn't  right." 

"No,  perhaps  it  isn't, — Oh,  I  see:  youVe  teasing 
me.    Well,  I'll  go  without  it." 

"But  you're  frightened  of  being  scolded?"  he  said, 
following  her  and  laying  his  hand  upon  the  handle 
of  the  door.  "Now  aren't  you?  confess!  What 
do  you  say  when  the  forewoman  is  cross  ?  Do  you 
stand  hanging  your  head  and  twisting  your  apron  ?" 
He  was  laughing  down  at  her. 

143 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"She  isn't  often  cross,  but  she  will  be  if  I  stay 
dawdling  here, — oh,  please,  Mr.  Morgan!" 

He  saw  with  astonishment  that  her  eyes  were  sud- 
denly brimming  with  tears,  and  her  soft  mouth 
quivered. 

"You  are  dreadfully  unkind,  getting  me  into 
trouble  and  then  teasing  me  about  it,"  she  said, 
nearly  crying,  but  trying  to  conceal  it  from  him. 
*T  enjoyed  looking  at  the  scents,  and  I  forgot  the 
time,  but  now  it  is  all  different,  and  I  want  to  go 
away,  please.  Please  take  your  hand  off  the  door- 
handle," she  continued,  trying  to  pull  away  his 
fingers  with  her  weak  ones. 

"Why,  you  have  got  quite  excited,"  he  said  gently; 
"look,  I  am  not  keeping  you — I  have  let  go  of  the 
handle — but  won't  you  wait  while  I  write  a  note 
to  the  forewoman?  I  want  to  send  her  a  message, 
I  really  do !    Won't  you  wait  for  it  ?" 

"Of  course,  if  you  ask  me  as  one  of  the  girls,  I 
must." 

"You're  terribly  perverse !"  he  exclaimed,  half  an- 
noyed. 

"If  you  ask  me  as  one  of  the  girls.  .  .  ." 

"Very  well;  Nan,  will  you  please  wait  a  minute 

while  I  write  a  note  for  you  to  take  to  Miss  Daw- 

144 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

son?"  He  was  not  sure  to  what  extent  she  was 
serious  or  joking.  Then  she  flushed  at  his  use  of 
her  name,  but  he  saw  that  she  was  not  joking  at  all. 
"What  a  strange,  perplexing  thing!"  he  commented 
inwardly,  as  he  searched  for  a  pencil  among  the 
litter  on  his  table. 

*Tf  you're  looking  for  your  pencil,  I  put  it  in  the 
tray  with  your  measure  and  the  little  thermometer," 
she  volunteered  sulkily. 

It  was  on  the  tip  of  his  tongue  to  say,  **You  said 
you  hadn't  tidied !"  but  a  glance  at  her  face,  which 
was  still  quivering  with  her  aroused  sensitiveness, 
warned  him  not  to  tease  her.  He  sat  down  and 
wrote  his  note  while  she  waited  over  by  the  door, 
then  he  brought  it  across  to  her. 

"Have  we  quarrelled?"  he  said  wistfully. 

"Is  there  no  message  with  the  note?" 

"How  severe  you  are!"  He  held  the  note  just 
out  of  her  reach,  risking  her  anger  if  he  might  keep 
her  a  moment  longer.  "Have  you  got  the  packet  of 
cedar-dust  I  gave  you?" 

"Yes." 

"Where?" 

She  made  one  of  the  patch-pockets  on  her  overall 

gape,  and  let  him  see  the  packet  within.     He  gave 
"  145 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

her  the  note  reluctantly,  and  opened  the  door  for  her. 

"Good-bye,  Mr.  Necromancer,  with  your  alem- 
bics," she  said. 

"Stop !  where  did  you  get  that  big  word  ?*' 

"Out  of  a  book." 

He  could  think  of  nothing  to  say  but  "What 
book?"  in  order  to  delay  her,  but  she  was  already 
half-way  down  the  passage.  He  watched  her  till 
she  was  out  of  sight,  then  returned  to  his  room  and 
shut  the  door.  "She's  like  a  little  delicate  moth  flit- 
ting through  gross  life,"  he  thought,  and  he  wan- 
dered about  his  room,  touching  the  things  which 
had  taken  her  fancy  most. 


146 


IX 


He  was  on  duty  at  the  factory  that  night,  so  Silas, 
not  to  be  alone,  had  his  supper  with  Nan  and  Greg- 
ory. The  households  of  the  double-cottage  were 
so  interchangeable  that  it  increased  Nan's  sense  of 
restriction  within  that  grim  and  tiny  circle,  the 
monotony  of  knowing  that  after  supper  Gregory 
would  bring  out  his  roll  of  drawings  and  flatten  them 
out  on  the  table  with  drawing-pins,  and  that  Silas 
would  surround  himself  with  his  great  Braille 
volumes,  running  his  fingers  over  the  pages  while 
his  eyes  would  remain  fixed  on  some  distant  corner 
and  expressions  of  amusement,  interest,  or  indigna- 
tion uncannily  succeeded  each  other  upon  his  face. 
To  watch  him  while  he  was  reading  never  ceased 
to  fascinate  and  frighten  Nan.  To  see  him  laugh- 
ing when  no  one  could  tell  what  he  was  laugh- 
at,  when  his  eyes  were  not  even  bent  upon  the 
page! 

147 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

But  to-night  she  had  other  thoughts.  They  were 
not  thoughts,  they  were  a  timorous,  shying  riot, 
that  took  hands;  danced;  and  upon  detection  broke 
up  into  a  scattered  rabble.  She  knew  only  that  they 
were  lovely,  and  felt  the  soft  muslin  of  their  gar- 
ments as  thty  passed  her.  Not  thoughts  1  no,  they 
were  more  like  wings,  song,  and  breeze  all  chasing 
one  another  in  her  heart.  Even  the  bronze  presence 
of  Silas  and  Gregory  could  not  weigh  against  their 
feathery  loveliness.  She  was  bewildered,  turning 
this  way  and  that  with  hands  outstretched,  trying 
to  capture  one,  to  hold  it,  and  examine  it;  but  she 
could  not,  either  because  it  eluded  her,  or  because 
she  feared  to  rub  away  its  bloom  and  colour.  She 
was  like  a  girl,  blindfolded,  playing  blindman's  buff 
in  the  midst  of  a  ring  of  children.  She  sat  quite  idle, 
not  consciously  thinking,  not  even  conscious  that  she 
was  happy.  For  the  moment  she  was  completely 
happy;  she  had  forgotten  both  Silas  and  Gregory. 
Calthorpe  would  not  have  found  her  wan ;  her  cheeks 
were  flushed  and  her  lips  parted,  but  so  abstracted 
was  she  that  she  did  not  know  it.  She  did  not  know 
that  she  was  idle,  although  she  was  usually  busy 
over  some  little  industry.     She  had  lost  all  sense 

save  that  of  well-being  and  deliverance. 

148 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

II 

Silas  recalled  her  as  he  shut  his  volume  with  a 
bang. 

''What  are  you  doing,  Nan?" 

"Oh  ..."  She  rebelled  against  this  inquisition, 
irritated  for  once  because  she  was  startled.  For  all 
that  she  lived  between  a  blind  man  and  a  deaf  one, 
she  had  perpetually  the  sensation  of  being  both 
watched  and  overheard.  Her  instinct  leaped  to  a 
pang  of  guilt  in  being  detected  idle,  and  she  resented 
the  unspoken  criticism.    "Nothing,  Silas;  thinking." 

"What  about?" 

"I  wondered  what  you  were  reading,"  she  lied. 

He  reopened  the  book,  always  eager  to  share  out 
his  own  impressions.  Trying  page  after  page  with 
his  fingers,  he  came  at  last  to  the  passage  he  sought. 
She  saw  the  raised  letters  standing  up  in  their 
strange  shapes,  casting  strange  little  shadows. 

"I'll  read  to  you,  shall  I?" 

He  began  to  read, — 

"How  fair  is  thy  love,  my  sister,  my  spouse!  how 
much  better  is  thy  love  than  wine!  and  the  smell  of 
thy  ointments  than  all  spices ! 

"Thy  lips,  O  my  spouse,  drop  as  the  honeycomb: 
honey  and  milk  are  under  thy  tongue;  and  the  smell 
of  thy  garments  is  like  the  smell  of  Lebanon. 

149 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"A  garden  enclosed  is  my  sister,  my  spouse ;  a  spring 
shut  up,  a  fountain  sealed. 

"Thy  plants  are  an  orchard  of  pomegranates,  with 
pleasant  fruits;  camphire,  with  spikenard. 

"Spikenard  and  saffron ;  calamus  and  cinnamon,  with 
all  trees  of  frankincense ;  myrrh  and  aloes,  with  all  the 
chief  spices. 

"A  fountain  of  gardens,  a  well  of  living  waters  and 
streams  from  Lebanon. 

"Awake,  O  north  wind ;  and  come,  thou  south ;  blow 
upon  my  garden,  that  the  spices  thereof  may  flow  out. 
Let  my  beloved  come  into  his  garden,  and  eat  his 
pleasant  fruits." 

Nan  was  not  able  to  speak;  she  had  listened  with 
indrawn  breath,  and  her  hand  had  flown  upwards 
to  her  heart. 

"I  don't  like  that — sugar !"  said  Silas  resentfully. 
"You  liked  it,  I  expect?    This  suits  me  better, — 

"I  will  even  appoint  over  you  terror,  consumption, 
and  the  burning  ague,  that  shall  consume  the  eyes  and 
cause  sorrow  of  heart:  and  ye  shall  sow  your  seed  in 
vain,  for  your  enemies  shall  eat  it. 

"And  I  will  set  my  face  against  you,  and  ye  shall 
be  slain  before  your  enemies :  they  that  hate  you  shall 
reign  over  you;  and  ye  shall  flee  when  none  pursueth 
you. 

"And  I  will  break  the  pride  of  your  power;  and  I 
will  make  your  heaven  as  iron,  and  your  earth  as  brass : 

"And  your  strength  shall  be  spent  in  vain ;  for  your 
150 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

land  shall  not  yield  her  increase,  neither  shall  the  trees 
of  the  land  yield  their  fruits. 

"I  will  also  send  wild  beasts  among  you,  which  shall 
rob  you  of  your  children,  and  destroy  your  cattle,  and 
make  you  few  in  number;  and  your  highways  shall 
be  desolate.  .  .  . 

"And  upon  them  that  are  left  alive  of  you,  I  will 
send  a  faintness  into  their  hearts  in  the  lands  of  their 
enemies;  and  the  sound  of  a  shaken  leaf  shall  chase 
them ;  and  they  shall  flee,  as  fleeing  from  a  sword ;  and 
they  shall  fall  when  none  pursueth." 

Nan  had  not  listened;  the  music  of  that  other 
verse  was  running  in  her  drunken  head,  "Spikenard 
and  saffron;  calamus  and  cinnamon;  myrrh  and 
aloes,  with  all  the  chief  spices.  ..." 

"Half  of  the  Bible  should  be  printed  in  blood/* 
said  Silas,  meditating  the  fulminations,  "and  read 
with  a  spear  in  the  hand. — But  it's  a  trick,  a  trick!'* 
he  said,  instantly  checking  his  enthusiasm,  with  the 
mocking  twist  on  his  mouth,  "I  do  the  trick  myself, 
sometimes,  to  domolish  it,"  and  turning  over  the 
pages  of  Leviticus,  he  came  across  a  sheet  covered 
with  his  own  handwriting,  which  he  gave  to  Nan. 
"Read  it  aloud." 

She  read, — 

"Consider  how  miserable  a  pigmy  is  man,  who  for 
his  most  terrible   fancy  conceives  bulk,  weight,   and 

151 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

uproar ;  the  magnifying  of  what  he  commonly  beholds. 

"Get  hence,  thou  starveling,  thou  poverty-stricken 
of  spirit!  let  thy  poor  eyes  dictate;  creation  was  not 
given  unto  thee. 

"God  said :  I  will  be  niggardly  toward  my  servant ; 
the  earth  will  I  give  him,  and  the  sea  and  the  sky  shall 
be  his ;  but  in  his  heart  shall  he  find  no  separate  image. 

"Look,  then,  within  thy  heart :  what  shalt  thou  find  ? 
a  perishable  hate,  a  faltering  resolve,  and,  for  thy 
richest  treasure,  the  swift  feet  of  love. 

"Terror  shalt  thou  find,  and  care;  the  terror  of  the 
seen  and  the  unseen ;  of  the  steps  that  pursue  thee,  and 
the  voices  that  cry  out  thy  name. 

"These  shall  be  thy  companions;  that  shall  clog  thy 
spirit  throughout  all  thy  days." 

"Well?  hey?  shorn  of  its  magic?" 

"Oh,  Silas,  to  laugh  at  the  Bible  and  write  such 
bitter  things !" 

Silas  roared  with  laughter;  he  clapped  his  hand 
upon  his  knee. 

"You  little  fool.  Shall  I  redeem  myself?  Give 
me  a  pencil  and  paper." 

She  gave  it  to  him  in  a  dream.  "A  garden  en- 
closed is  my  sister,  my  spouse;  a  spring  shut  up,  a 
fountain  sealed.  .  .  ." 

Silas  was  writing;  he  wrote  and  chuckled,  and 

handed  the  sheet  to  Nan. 

152 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"Then  man  turned  and  said:  *All  these  things  are 
true.' 

"But  look  again  within  my  heart;  thou  shalt  find 
charity  there,  and  pity  Hke  a  heahng  ointment;  rever- 
ence before  strength,  and  courage  as  an  archangel  in 
bright  armour. 

"Blow  but  upon  the  embers  of  truth  which  thou 
shalt  find,  and  they  shall  leap  as  a  flame;  truly,  thou 
shalt  re-kindle  the  spark  of  thy  breath  in  man. 

"So  shalt  thou  not  say  in  anger,  *This  man  which 
I  have  made  is  nothing  worth.*  " 

"Does  that  please  you  better?'' 

"It's  surely  not  right,  Silas." 

"Right!  a  fig  for  right  and  its  insipidity!" 

("Insipid!"  her  heart  rebelled;  what  could  be  in- 
sipid when  light  was  over  the  whole  of  life?  new 
light,  young  light?) 

"That  first  bit  you  read  ..."  she  began,  "it  re- 
minded me  of  the  scents  at  the  factory;  it  was 
funny  your  reading  just  that  bit." 

Silas  said  nothing;  he  was  biting  his  nails  and 
muttering;  she  resumed,  drawn  onward  though  re- 
luctant. 

"It  put  me  in  mind  of  Mr.  Morgan's  room;  he 
has  things  like  that — spikenard  and  saffron,  and  the 
rest." 

"Morgan's  room — how  do  you  know?" 
153 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

She  was  terrified  by  his  pounce  upon  her  out  of 
the  heart  of  his  abstraction. 

"Oh,  I  was  sent  there  with  a  message/' 
•      "To-day?" 

"Yes,  this  afternoon."  Although  she  was  guilt- 
less she  had  all  the  quick  panic  of  guilt, — what 
should  she  say?  what  must  she  not  say?  hold  con- 
cealed?— and  she  felt  that  Silas  held  her  pinned 
down  beneath  talons  while  he  pried. 

"What  message?" 

"Miss  Dawson  wanted  something." 

"What  did  she  want?" 

"To  know  whether  he  had  ordered  some  printed 
labels."  Again  that  panic  of  guilt,  reassured  now 
because  she  could  answer  his  question  without 
stumbling.  She  almost  wanted  to  call  his  attention 
to  it,  to  say,  "Look,  I'm  telling  the  truth;  there's 
no  necessity  for  me  to  invent." 

"So  you  went  up  to  his  room  ?" 

"Yes." 

"And  you  saw  the  spices  ?" 

"Yes — I  was  just  saying,  wasn't  I?  that  it  was 
funny  you  should  choose  that  bit  to  read  aloud." 

"I  expect  he  showed  them  to  you — ^he's  always 
talking  about  them  to  me — did  he  ?" 

154 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"One  or  two — yes,  he  did  show  me.  But  I 
couldn't  stop.  I  had  my  work  waiting."  She  re- 
gretted ardently  that  she  had  introduced  the  subject; 
she  not  only  feared  and  mistrusted  Silas's  inquisi- 
tion, but  she  also  shrank,  as  with  physical  pain,  at 
his  handling  of  it.    He  was  rough  and  defamatory. 

His  tone  changed,  and  unexpectedly  he  continued 
in  a  gentle,  interested,  and  sympathetic  voice. 

'Tm  glad  to  think  you  make  friends  with  Linnet. 
I  often  think  it's  hard  for  you,  living  between  me 
and  Gregory;  you're  a  young  thing,  so's  Linnet; 
it's  natural  you  should  be  drawn  together.  He's  got 
a  brain,  too ;  none  of  your  young  fools !  I've  a  grand 
opinion  of  him.  I  thought  when  he  first  came  to  the 
house  that  you  and  he  would  get  laughing  together. 
Tell  me  what  he  looks  like?" 

"What  he  looks  like,  Silas?" 

"Yes,  describe  him  to  me." 

"He  has  short  curly  hair  and  always  laughing 
eyes." 

"Anything  else?" 

"Oh,  he  looks  younger  than  his  age." 

"How  old  would  you  think  him?" 

"Oh,  about  twenty-two,  twenty-three." 

"How  old  are  you,  Nan?" 
155 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"Twenty-one." 

"And  he's  twenty-five.  It  sounds  good.  I'm 
fifty.    What  more  about  Linnet?" 

"I  haven't  looked  at  him  so  closely,  Silas." 

"You  mean  you  haven't  noticed  anything  more  ?" 

"No,  nothing  more."  She  had  no  shame,  but 
rather  pride,  in  the  lie. 

"If  I  had  eyes,  I  should  make  better  use  of  them," 
said  Silas,  not  disagreeably.  He  went  on,  "I've 
helped  you  and  Linnet,  haven't  I  ?  sent  you  for  walks 
together,  left  you  alone  in  my  kitchen  more  than 
once?  I'm  less  soured  than  you  think  me.  I'm 
sorry  for  you  sometimes,  being  young,  and  I  liked 
helping  you  to  Linnet  as  a  playfellow.  You  reckon 
on  me,  little  Nan." 

She  did  not  know  what  to  make  of  this.  She 
wanted  to  believe  that  Silas  meant  to  be  kind;  in- 
deed, in  spite  of  her  latent  scepticism  she  was 
touched;  but  she  was  alarmed  by  and  resisted  the 
insinuations  of  his  words,  which  he  had  spoken  in  a 
lower  voice,  as  though  in  an  unnecessary  precaution 
of  secrecy  before  Gregory;  she  glanced  at  Gregory, 
poising  his  beautifully  sharpened  pencil  over  his 
drawing,  and  his  fine  looks,  and  coarse  rough  hair, 
appeared  to  her  distasteful.     She  looked  at  Silas,  so 

156 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

similar  in  build  and  feature,  yet  with  a  certain  sly- 
ness that  was  wholly  absent  from  his  brother.  Silas 
was  speaking  again, — 

"If  you  need  anything,  come  to  me,  little  Nan. 
You're  good  to  me,  and  it's  not  forgotten.  We'll 
be  allies." 

This  was  the  kind  of  phrase  that  frightened  her, 
and  whirled  her  away  before  she  was  well  aware,  to 
a  region  of  tacit  admissions  and  implications.  Had 
she  said  more  than  she  meant?  more  than  she  even 
thought  ?  Why,  she  thought  nothing,  or  had  thought 
nothing  until  Silas  began,  but  now  her  sense  of 
undefined  well-being  was  taking  shape,  emerging 
from  the  mist  of  rustle  and  cadence,  as  the  coast-line 
of  undiscovered  country  emerges  from  the  sea  mists 
of  dawn.  She  had  been  rushed;  Silas  had  rushed 
her.  She  thought  with  terror  of  how  Silas  had  fas- 
tened upon  her  first  words ;  one  could  believe  that  he 
had  only  been  waiting  for  her  to  pronounce  them. 
He  had  been  so  ready.  He  had  fired  so  many  ques- 
tions. He  had  obliged  her  to  say,  or  at  least  to 
admit  by,  her  silence,  anything  he  wanted.  He 
might  not  want  much  yet,  but  later?  later? 

Apparently  he  was  satisfied  for  the  moment,  for 
he  picked  up  his  Braille  volume  and  fell  to  running 
his  finger  tips  over  the  pages,  smiling  to  himself. 

157 


I 

She  hoped  that  the  subject  would  be  forgotten. 
It  was  not  forgotten.  That  was  clear  to  her,  al- 
though Silas  made  no  direct  allusion;  but  by  his 
manner  he  established  the  existence  of  a  secret  be- 
tween them,  and  because  she  dared  not  say  to  him, 
"There  is  no  secret,"  the  secret  remained,  growing 
insidiously.  She  was  nervous  and  uneasy  in  his 
presence.  Silas  was  kinder  than  ever  she  had  known 
him,  kinder  and  gentler,  also  he  appeared  to  be  more 
contented,  but  she  had  a  terrified  suspicion  that  he 
was  contented  only  because  his  mind  was  occupied, 
and  it  seemed  horrible  to  her  that  she  should  be  the 
centre  of  that  occupation.  She  had  suddenly  become 
involved  in  an  affair  whose  existence,  she  protested 
to  herself,  had  its  being  solely  as  the  outcome  of 
Silas's  imagination.  She  tried  to  shake  it  off  and 
to  laugh  it  away,  but  he  held  her  to  it.    She  had  the 

helpless  sensation  of  being  on  the  end  of  a  rope  that 

158 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

he  was  slowly  hauling  in,  maintaining  his  purchase 
over  every  miserly  inch  as  he  gained  it. 

Hambley,  soft-footed,  insinuating,  and  urbane, 
added  by  his  parasitic  presence  to  the  uneasiness  of 
the  house.  The  yellow  faced,  thin  little  man,  with 
his  black  hair  and  his  long  front  teeth  like  a  rodent^s, 
never  had  an  opinion  of  his  own,  but  echoed  Silas, 
or  cackled  with  the  laughter  of  approval.  He  alter- 
nately tried  to  provoke  and  to  propitiate  Nan  and 
Morgan,  gibed  at  them  when  they  were  civil  to  him, 
and  fawned  on  them  when  they  were  curt.  Nan 
shuddered  when  she  wondered  how  many  of  Silas's 
darker  thoughts  were  shared  out  to  his  keeping. 

Was  there  a  conspiracy  against  her  ?  To  her  mind, 
full  of  alarm,  this  seemed  not  impossible.  Calthorpe 
even, — her  prop,  her  kind,  comfortable  friend, — 
Calthorpe  mentioned  casually,  "I  may  have  to  steal 
Gregory  from  you,  my  dear ;  I  must  have  a  man  with 
me  when  I  go  to  Birmingham  to  look  over  some  new 
plants,  and  I  fancy  that  your  Gregory  would  relish 
the  job,  and  be  very  useful  to  me."  She  had  clasped 
his  arm.  *'0h  no,  don't  take  Gregory  away,  Mr. 
Calthorpe."  *'What!"  he  said  in  surprise,  "are  you 
so  fond  of  him?"  She  did  not  answer.  She  was  not 
fond  of  Gregory;  he  was  an  owner  and  an  institu- 

159 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

tion,  but  the  question  of  fondness  played  no  part. 
Hitherto,  she  had  not  thought  of  disHking  him ;  that 
was  all.  He  and  Silas  (until  she  knew  Silas  was  a 
murderer)  had  appeared  very  much  the  same  in  her 
mind,  the  only  difference  being  that  whereas  Gregory 
had  rights  over  her  passive  and  uninquiring  person 
Silas  had  none. 

''Well,  am  I  not  to  take  him?'*  asked  Calthorpe. 

"Yes,  take  him,"  she  replied.  Why  had  she  hesi- 
tated? By  all  these  doubts  and  hesitations  she  was 
playing  Silas's  game;  he  had  gained  another  inch 
of  the  rope.     ''When  are  you  going?" 

"It's  all  quite  uncertain;  I  may  not  be  going  at  all. 
But  if  I  go,  it  will  be  some  time  next  month,  and  I 
shall  ask  for  Gregory.  I  am  discovering  that  he  has 
the  real  knack  for  any  kind  of  engine;  he's  sulky 
about  it  and  contemptuous,  but  I  urge  him,  and  he 
unfolds.  He  showed  me  some  of  his  plans — but 
you're  in  the  clouds?" 

II 

Silas  was  with  Lady  Malleson,  more  than  usually 
morose.  She  lay  upon  the  sofa,  while  he  prowled 
up  and  down  the  room. 

"Dene,  you  scarcely  speak  to  me  to-day?" 
160 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

("She  cringes,"  he  thought  with  pride.) 

*'My  sister-in-law's  in  love,"  he  repHed  tersely. 

"With  whom  has  she  fallen  in  love?"  asked  Lady 
Malleson,  thinking  how  strange  it  was  that  she 
should  be  thus  intimately  conversant  with  a  group 
of  work-people  down  in  the  village. 

"With  Morgan, — ^the  young  zany." 

"Why,  you  always  seemed  so  fond  of  him!  your 
one  human  frailty,"  she  bantered.  But  he  rounded 
on  her  with  unwarrantable  sharpness.  "I  think 
your  ladyship  is  mistaken:  I  never  remember  say- 
ing I  was  fond  of  Morgan.  They're  neither  of 
them  any  more  alive  than  a  turtle-dove  sunning  it- 
self in  a  wicker  cage." 

"You  strange  creature — ^have  you  no  natural 
affections?"  she  said,  with  indolent  curiosity.  "None 
for  that  young  man,  who  really  devotes  himself 
to  you?  none  for  your  little  harmless  sister-in-law?" 

"Fm  nothing  to  them — only  a  blind  man  to  whom 
they're  kind  out  of  their  charity." 

"I  don't  believe,  Silas,  that  you  are  so  bleak  as 
you  make  out." 

"My  own  solitude,  my  lady,  is  my  own  choosing." 

"Why  shouldn't  you  accept  what  comfort  those 

two  young  things  could  give  you?" 

161 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

**It's  weak,"  he  burst  out,  "why  not  stand  alone  ? 
why  depend  on  another?  Why  shouldn't  the 
strength  of  one  suffice  ?  Why  all  this  need  to  double 
it?  Love's  wholly  a  question  of  weakness;  the 
weaker  you  are,  the  more  desperately  you  love.  A 
prop  .  .  .  Love's  the  first  tie  for  an  independent 
man  to  rid  himself  of.  It's  a  weakness  that  grows 
too  easily  out  of  all  proportion.  I  want  my  mind  for 
other  things,  not  for  anything  so  trite.  So  well 
charted.     So  ...  so  recurrent." 

"Another  theory,  Silas?  Be  careful,"  she  lazily 
teased  him;  "what  we  most  abuse,  you  know,  is 
often  what  we  most  fear." 

"I  shall  break  them,"  he  growled. 

"What !  your  sister-in-law  ?  that  frail-looking  little 
thing?" 

"She,  and  .  .  .  her  lover." 

"Silas,  you  scare  me  sometimes,  you  speak  so 
savagely." 

"Scare  you,  my  lady?  even  you?" 

"Why  ^evenme'?" 

"You've  explored  me,"  he  said  grudgingly;  "you 
know  me  so  well." 

"Do  I  ?  everything  about  you?" 

"Not  quite,"  he  said,  in  a  tone  of  profound  gloom. 
162 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"Do  you  know  yourself,  I  wonder?" 

"To  the  depths,"  he  replied. 

"Do  you  enjoy  having  such  complete  self-knowl- 
edge?" 

"It's  lonely,"  he  said,  his  face  drawn. 

"Lonely,  but  you  have  me  now  to  talk  to." 

"Oh,  your  ladyship  is  very  kind  and  gracious," 
he  said,  with  the  deferential  manner  he  sometimes 
abruptly  assumed,  and  through  which  she  always 
uncomfortably  suspected  the  sarcasm;  "I  am  very 
grateful  to  your  ladyship.  But  your  ladyship  ..." 
and  thus  far  he  preserved  his  deference,  but  aban- 
doned it  now  to  exclaim  as  though  tormented, 
"You're  a  whetstone  to  my  disquiet;  you  taunt  me, 
you  keep  all  peace  from  me." 

"I  never  knew  you  wanted  peace." 

He  was  tired  and  dispirited  that  day,  and  had 
been  dwelling  upon  his  blindness;  he  craved  for 
peace,  for  some  one  to  give  him  peace! — and  she 
knew  it.  But  she  must  whip  and  provoke  him  back 
to  the  strain  of  his  old  attitude.  She  did  not  know 
what  urged  her  to  say  as  she  did,  in  her  most  sneer- 
ing tone,  "I  never  knew  you  wanted  peace." 

"Nor  I  do,"  he  snarled;  "I  wouldn't  have  it  as  a 

gift/' 

163 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

III 
So  they  wrangled  always ;  indispensable  she  might 
be  to  him,  but  peace  was  certainly  not  what  she 
brought  him.  And  although  they  maintained  the 
disguise  afforded  by  her  tone  of  slight  condescen- 
sion, and  by  his  of  conventional  respect,  underneath 
this  disguise  fomented  the  perpetual  and  manifold 
contest,  of  class  against  class,  of  the  rough  against 
the  fastidious,  of  the  man  against  the  woman.  She 
had  very  little  real  fear  that  its  full  strength  would 
ever  break  over  her, — little  real  fear,  only  enough 
to  provide  the  spice  she  exacted.  She  trusted  to 
her  appraisement  of  him :  too  proud  to  risk  a  rebuff; 
too  fiercely  recalcitrant  under  the  thongs  of  affec- 
tion. Under  their  menace  he  snorted  and  reared, 
while  she  laughed  indolently,  and  incited  him  to  fur- 
ther indignations.  Yet  she  held  him,  she  held  him ! 
and  though  she  knew  full  well  that  she  fretted  and 
exasperated  him,  she  held  him  still ;  seeing  his  strug- 
gles, but  toying  with  him,  pretending  to  let  him  go, 
pulling  him  back,  distracting  and  confusing  his  spirit 
that  was  always  beating  round  in  the  search  for  es- 
cape ;  and  all  the  while  she  heard  from  various  quar- 
ters the  pleasant  flattery  of  her  guilt  extolled  under 

the  name  of  charity. 

164 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

IV 

"You'll  be  happy  soon:  you'll  have  the  spring," 
Silas  said  to  Nan.  He  did  not  speak  with  the  cus- 
tomary note  of  derision  in  his  voice, — this  was  the 
newer  Silas, — but  she  thought  she  detected  it  very 
painstakingly  concealed. 

She  went  away  from  him,  and  her  going  was  after 
the  manner  of  a  flight.  Had  she  followed  her  im- 
pulse, she  would  have  gone  running,  with  her  head 
bent  down  between  her  protecting  hands.  It  seemed 
that  she  could  keep  nothing  from  Silas;  he  laid  his 
grasp  without  mercy  upon  her  shyest  secrets.  She 
had  tried  to  keep  her  joy  in  the  coming  spring  a 
secret ;  although  reserve  was  hard  of  accomplishment 
to  her,  she  had  achieved  it,  hiding  her  delight  away 
in  her  heart,  or  so  she  believed,  not  knowing  that 
her  laughter  had  rung  more  clearly,  or  that  she  had 
been  singing  so  constantly  over  her  work  in  the  two 
cottages.  She  was  conscious  of  no  impatience  and 
no  desires.  She  would  not,  by  a  wish,  have  made 
herself  a  month  older.  She  was  happy  now,  she 
told  herself,  because  the  country  would  presently 
become  a  refuge  from  the  factory,  instead  of  its 
dismal  and  consonant  setting,  wide  and  level  as  the 

sea  itself,  in  its  centre  the  sinister  hump  of  the 

165 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

abbey  and  the  factory.  By  walking  a  little  way  in 
the  opposite  direction,  and  turning  her  back  upon 
the  village,  she  would  dismiss  the  factory  and  look 
across  the  liberated  country,  as  it  was  impossible  to 
do  in  these  days  when  the  floods  accompanied  the 
factory  for  miles  around  as  a  reflection  of  its  spirit. 
She  told  herself  that  she  wanted  nothing  more. 
She  knew  that  she  could  be  happy, — perhaps  not 
indefinitely,  but  she  did  not  look  far  ahead,  the 
present  was  too  buoyant  and  suspended, — happy  for 
the  moment  if  Silas  would  but  leave  her  alone. 


For  a  few  days  he  kept  up  his  new  smooth-spoken 
tone;  it  was  ^'little  Nan"  this,  and  "little  Nan"  that, 
and  whenever  he  could  get  hold  of  her  hand  he 
stroked  and  patted  it,  and  joined  his  fingers  round 
her  wrist,  saying  that  it  was  fragile.  "You're  very 
slight.  Nan,"  he  said,  feeling  her  arm  and  shoulder, 
and  once  he  laid  one  hand  against  her  chest  and  the 
other  against  her  back,  and  said  that  there  was  no 
thickness  in  her  body.  She  withdrew  herself,  shud- 
dering, from  his  touch.  "I'm  blind,  you  know,"  he 
whined,  and  then  laughed,  "Bless  you,  blind  or  not 

blind,  I  know  any  of  you  in  the  room  before  you've 

166 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

spoken;  there's  very  little  Silas  doesn't  know.  I 
know  all  about  you,  Nan,  and  I'm  a  good  friend  to 
you,  too."  "But  Silas  .  .  ."  she  began  desperately. 
"Hush!"  he  said,  putting  his  fingers  to  her  lips  and 
looking  mysterious,  "no  need  to  say  anything;  we 
understand  one  another."  Just  then  Linnet  Mor- 
gan came  in,  throwing  aside  his  cap,  and  Nan  clasped 
her  hands  in  terror  lest  Silas  should  continue.  "Lin- 
net?" said  Silas  instantly,  "  you're  back  early  to- 
day." 

Linnet  had  work  which  could  as  easily  be  done 
at  home.  He  began  at  once  getting  books  and  papers 
out  of  his  cupboard,  and  disposing  them  on  the 
table.  He  and  Nan  observed  one  another  stealthily 
and  quickly;  he  saw  that  she  wore  her  dark  red 
shirt  and  black  skirt,  and  that  on  his  entrance  she 
had  become  silent  as  though  confused,  but  mean- 
while he  talked  to  Silas  and  made  him  laugh,  and 
ran  his  fingers  backwards  through  his  hair.  Nan 
noticed  that  his  crisp  hair  was  quite  golden  at  the 
roots,  and  that  a  fine  white  line  followed  the  begin- 
ning of  its  growth.  He  was  very  fair-skinned,  and 
the  back  of  his  neck  where  it  disappeared  into  his 
collar  was  covered  with  a  fine  golden  down.  He  was 
always  busy;  when  he  was  not  working  he  was 

167 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

talking  and  laughing;  Nan  supposed  that  he  had 
never  in  his  life  had  time  to  think  about  himself. 

"There's  something  I've  always  wanted  to  know," 
began  Silas,  resting  his  arms  upon  the  table  as 
though  he  were  watching  Nan  and  Linnet,  "what 
were  you  two  doing  here  the  night  Martin  came? 
while  I  was  at  the  Abbey?" 

"The  night  the  donkey  was  maimed?"  asked  Mor- 
gan. 

"Why,  fancy  you  remembering  that!'*  said  Silas 
negligently. 

"I  was  clearing  up,  and  we  talked  for  a  bit,"  Nan 
put  in. 

"There  was  nothing  to  clear  up;  it  was  Sunday 
evening  and  you'd  been  singing  and  playing  your 
zither.    You  talked  mostly, — now,  didn't  you?" 

"Why  not?"  asked  Morgan.  He  was  very  rarely 
sharp  in  speech,  but  he  saw  Nan's  discomfort. 

"Why  not,  indeed  ?  you  and  Nan  are  much  of  an 
age,"  Silas  replied.  They  considered  him  wonder- 
ingly;  was  he  well-intentioned  or  infinitely  malign? 
As  they  considered  him  he  got  up  and  went  towards 
the  stairs.  "Back  in  a  moment,"  he  said.  They 
heard  his  tread  upon  the  steps,  then  moving  over- 
head.   They  looked  at  one  another. 

168 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"Why  did  you  say  that  about  the  donkey?"  Nan 
asked. 

"You  think,  like  me,  that  Silas  did  it,"  he  an- 
swered, as  a  statement.  "Don't  look  so  frightened," 
he  went  on,  his  eyes  softening  into  his  ready  smile; 
*T  assure  you,  you  need  never  be  frightened  of 
Silas.  There's  no  muscle  in  his  violence.  Nothing 
will  ever  come  of  it — beyond  maiming  donkeys.  Oh 
yes,  it's  horrible,  I  know,  because  it's  so  futile.  No, 
don't  shake  your  head — ^your  pretty  head,"  he  added 
inaudibly.  An  impulse  came  over  him  to  cry 
"You  tiny  thing!  you  slip  of  fragility!"  but  he  re- 
repressed  it. 

She  uttered  the  most  treacherous  remark  she  had 
ever  breathed  about  Silas,  something  which  fringed 
the  frightful  truth,  "I  know  better,"  then  terrified 
of  her  indiscretion,  added,  "Oh  no,  I  mean  nothing." 

"You  are  afraid  of  him,  aren't  you?"  he  said, 
coming  round  the  table  closer  to  her,  his  attitude 
very  sympathetic  and  protective,  and  differing  by  a 
shade  from  Calthorpe's  attitude.  "You  must  not  be 
that.  One  can  only  be  sorry  for  Silas,  who  has 
grown  warped  and  crooked,  and  who  talks  because 
there  is  nothing  else  he  can  do.  Whenever  I  think 
of  Silas,  I  feel  so  lucky  in  mind  and  body." 

169 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

She  glanced  at  him  gratefully.  He  had  had  the 
tact  not  to  urge  an  explanation  of  her  injudicious 
remark,  and  she  knew  that  she  could  always  depend 
upon  this  gentle  tact;  moreover,  he  had  rescued  her 
soul  from  the  terror  she  so  dreaded,  and  had  by  his 
words  set  Silas  in  a  sane  and  pitiful  light.  It  suited 
her  temperament  to  have  Silas  drawn  down  from 
the  uncomfortable  heights  where  he  seemed  to  dwell 
in  perpetual  strife  with  elements.  It  was  no  longer 
Silas  who  brooded  over  them,  but  they  who  endured 
and  even  loved  Silas  with  widened  charity.  She 
was  very  grateful  to  Linnet  for  this.  What  he  had 
done  once  he  could  do  again;  he  could  soothe  her 
terrors.  She  had  not  yet  thought  of  him  in  so  hu- 
man, companionable  a  way. 

He  continued  the  line  that  he  had  taken  up,  giving 
her  time  to  command  herself  fully,  making  no  de- 
mands upon  her  and  pretending  that  nothing  had 
been  amiss.  He  swung  himself  on  to  the  table,  and 
talked  easily, — 

"I  feel  so  lucky  and  thankful  for  having  whole 

limbs  and  a  sane  mind.     I  don't  covet  genius,  but 

I  do  covet  sanity;  in  fact,  I'm  not  sure  that  the 

broadest  genius  isn't  the  supreme  sanity.     Balance 

and  justice!     I  think  those  two  things  are  mag- 

170 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

nificent  and  grand"  (but  he  himself,  she  knew, 
would  in  practice  always  be  merciful  rather  than 
just). 

"I  wish  I  had  your  book-learning/'  she  said ;  "you 
ought  to  stick  to  books." 

"Oh  no,"  he  replied,  *'I  like  chemistry  better,  and 
those  things.  Science  ...  If  I  hadn't  to  earn  my 
living  I  shouldn't  be  working  on  scents  in  this  fac- 
tory. No!  I'd  be  in  a  country  cottage  with  a 
laboratory." 

''You  do  your  best  as  it  is,"  she  said,  touching  his 
stack  of  scientific  books. 

*'I  had  a  bit  of  training  at  Edinburgh  University," 
he  said,  in  wistful  reminiscence,  ''but  one  ought  to 
dedicate  years  ..." 

"Who  was  your  father?"  she  asked  after  much 
deliberation  whether  she  might  venture  the  question. 
She  knew  Morgan  only  as  an  isolated  person,  who 
had  arrived  one  day  into  the  world  of  the  factory, 
and  had  never  mentioned  home  or  relations.  She 
knew  only  that  he  was  Scotch;  he  had  a  very  slight 
Scotch  accent. 

"He  was  an  Inverness  crofter,"  he  replied 
vaguely,  "I  used  to  keep  the  sheep  on  the  hills  in 
mists  and  snows,  and  properly  I  hated  it.    The  days 

171- 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

were  short,  and  I  thought  it  was  always  winter.  I 
used  to  sit  shivering  on  the  brae-side,  huddled  in  a 
plaid  for  shelter  under  a  boulder,  trying  to  read 
while  I  kept  one  eye  on  the  sheep.  The  pages  of  my 
book  used  to  get  damp  and  limp,  and  the  print  got 
blurred  when  I  tried  to  dry  the  page  with  the  corner 
of  my  jacket.  Then  somebody  found  out  that  I 
wasn't  getting  any  education,  and  reported  it,  so  I 
was  sent  back  to  school,  and  was  happy  again.  And 
you — you  haven't  lived  here  always,  have  you?" 

"Since  I  was  ten,"  she  replied,  sighing,  "we  used 
to  live  in  the  south  before  that  ...  I  liked  that," 
she  said,  "it  was  a  pretty  place,  Midhurst,  near 
Arundel — perhaps  you  know  it?"  She  thought  in- 
nocently, and  rather  in  the  fashion  of  a  child,  that 
every  one  must  know  what  she  knew. 

"I  wish  I  did,  but  I  don't" 

"Oh,  it's  under  the  Downs.  Do  you  remember 
the  day  we  walked  with  Silas  to  Thorpe's  Howland? 
that  put  me  in  mind  of  Midhurst;  there  were  woods 
round  about  Midhurst." 

"You  enjoyed  yourself  that  day,  didn't  you?" 

He  expected  a  little  burst  of  rhapsody  from  her, 

but  she  only  said  quietly,  "Yes,  I  did,"  and  he  was 

aware  of  disappointment,  and  at  the  same  time  of 

172 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

the  little  stinging  charm  of  her  occasional  unex- 
pectedness. 

"We  both  come  from  sheep  country,  then,"  he 
said,  but  the  images  evoked  in  their  minds  were 
different :  his  of  rough  hills  with  their  summits  lost 
in  mist,  and  lochs  lying  amongst  the  windings  at 
their  base;  of  dirty  huddled  flocks  swept  by  wind 
and  sleet;  while  hers  were  of  cropped  downland 
under  a  blue  and  white  open  sky,  with  the  shadows 
of  the  clouds  bowling  across  the  downs  and  over  the 
clumps  of  trees  and  little  church-steeples  in  the  val- 
leys. He  realised  the  disparity,  saying  "When  I 
say  that,  we  see  different  pictures,"  and  he  smiled, 
but  in  his  heart  he  longed  for  their  childhood  to  have 
run  side  by  side  either  in  the  Sussex  or  the  Highland 
village.    "Have  you  ever  been  back  there  ?"  he  asked. 

"Oh  no ;  it's  a  long  way  from  Lincolnshire.  I  was 
always  at  the  factory  after  I  left  school,  and  then 
when  I  was  eighteen  Mother  died  and  I  married." 

"Only  eighteen?" 

"A  week  after  my  birthday." 

"How  young!"  he  said,  with  such  rich  and  won- 
dering compassion  that  she  looked  suddenly  as  it 
were  into  the  depths  of  a  cool  inexhaustible  well, 
always  at  hand  for  the  quenching  of  her  thirst.    He 

173 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

was  sitting  on  the  table  near  her,  while  their  con- 
versation flowed  on  in  its  effortless  interest,  so  that 
time  and  his  books  were  forgotten.  He  seemed 
quite  absorbed  in  what  they  were  saying,  looking 
down  at  her  with  intent  consideration.  They  had 
attained  an  intimacy  in  which  they  could  talk  un- 
troubled ;  she  found  it  very  precious. 

"Now,  Linnet!"  said  Silas's  bantering  voice, 
"making  love  to  my  sister-in-law?" 

VI 

Silas  became  unwontedly  withdrawn  into  himself, 
neither  Nan  nor  Morgan  knew  what  to  make  of  him. 
At  times  he  avoided  them,  at  other  times  silently 
sought  their  company.  Gregory,  to  whom  Nan 
turned,  after  one  glance  at  his  brother,  replied,  "Let 
him  alone,"  and  she  followed  the  brief  formula  as 
being  the  best  advice,  finding  that  Silas  only  snarled 
at  her  whenever  she  spoke  to  him.  She  was  relieved 
rather  than  dismayed;  Silas  surly  was  preferable  to 
Silas  honeyed. 

He  roamed  alone,  spending  hours  in  the  abbey 

after  dusk;  or  ordered  up  Hambley,  and  under  the 

little  man's  guidance  made  his  way  to  the  secluded 

summer-house  at  Malleson  Place.,    Lady  Malleson 

174 


•  THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

was  also  at  a  loss  to  understand  his  altered  manner; 
towards  her  he  relaxed  his  taciturnity,  and  his  speech 
was  more  than  ever  wild  and  varied,  but  although  he 
ranged  erratically  she  had  the  impression  that  his 
mind  rarely  departed  from  one  central  subject,  and 
she  had  also  the  shrewd  idea  that  that  subject  was 
his  little  sister-in-law,  whom  she  had  once  seen,  and 
whom  she  vaguely  thought  a  pretty,  delicate,  rather 
appealing  girl,  unimportant  until  she  had  become  the 
preoccupation  of  Silas's  thoughts. 

So  long  as  she  had  Silas  with  her,  however,  she 
cared  very  little  what  he  talked  about.  The  utmost 
that  she  deplored,  sometimes,  was  his  restlessness. 
It  made  her  wonder  whether  she  really  held  him. 
She  wondered,  indeed,  sometimes  whether  her  hold 
on  him  was  too  light  to  satisfy  her  vanity,  or  too 
secure — all  too  secure ! — for  the  preservation  of  her 
safety  and  her  convenience.  She  liked  danger  well 
enough,  but  there  was  a  point  where  danger  might 
become  too  dangerous. 

"Wild  man, — Ishmael,"  she  said  to  him. 

But  he  went  on  regardless  with  what  he  had 
been  saying. 

'There's  but  one  use  for  the  body,"  he  exclaimed, 
"health.     Not   mortification — that's  morbid.     But 

175 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

health,  lean  and  hard.  Sinews  like  whips."  He 
bared  a  magnificent  forearm.  '*The  only  instance 
where  I  practise  what  I  preach,"  he  added  bitterly, 
causing  the  muscles  to  rise  at  will. 

"Then  you  should  respect  your  brother  Gregory,'' 
she  said,  languidly  content. 

"You  have  seen  him  lately,  my  lady  ?" 

"Yesterday,  in  the  village." 

"The  neatest  of  minds,  in  the  body  of  a  black- 
smith," said  Silas. 

"Neat?" 

"Why,  yes — so  long  as  he  doesn't  break  out. 
Then  he  lays  all  around  him,  smashes  everything  he 
can  see,  without  comment — that  makes  it  quite  un- 
canny, I  assure  you  —  and  in  a  trice  returns  to 
his  quiet  and  his  neatness  as  though  nothing 
out  of  the  way  had  happened.  He's  very  inac- 
cessible, my  brother  Gregory.  No  warnings.  No 
explanations.  No  remorse.  Nothing  apparently, 
but  action." 

"You  respect  that,"  she  said,  looking  at  his  fine 
bony  face,  and  his  thick  rough  hair. 

"Think,  if  a  man's  killed,"  he  brooded,  "killed  by 

violent  means,  what  an  outrage  on  the  body.    Blood 

spilt,  that  ran  secretly  and  private   in  his  veins. 

176 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

Bones,  no  one  had  ever  seen.  Entrails.  What  a 
bursting!" 

She  pictured  his  mind  as  a  landscape  ravaged  by 
war,  here  a  wreckage  of  stone  and  twisted  iron, 
there  a  grave,  here  the  stark  Calvary  of  a  stricken 
tree,  there  the  bright  blare  of  poppies  striving  for 
life  amongst  the  rushes  and  rank  weeds. 

"You  waste  yourself,"  she  said;  "you  should  be  a 
martyr, — or  a  poet." 

She  liked  to  stir  him,  by  such  calculated  remarks. 

"A  second-rate  poet?  not  I,"  he  sneered  instantly; 
then,  as  the  flattery  stole  over  him,  "More  likely  a 
martyr,  of  the  two,"  he  said,  responding. 

"You    waste    yourself,"    she    repeated,    drawing 

meanwhile  slowly  through  her  fingers  the  long  silk 

fringe  of  a  shawl  that  lay  thrown  across  her  sofa, 

"you  waste  yourself,  out  of  contempt.     You  eagle 

with  broken  wings !" — she  knew  with  what  gluttony 

he  accepted  such  metaphors,  and  amused  herself 

when  he  wasn't  with  her  by  thinking  out  new  ones 

that  she  might  serve  up  to  him, — "you  repudiate 

comfort,  don't  you,  in  your  dream  of  grandeur. 

Will  you  end,  I  wonder,  by  getting  neither?"     "No 

one  speaks  to  me  like  your  ladyship,"  he  muttered 

reluctantly.    She  laughed.     She  enjoyed  pretending 
12  xyy 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

to  an  ideal  of  him  that,  his  pride  well  fired,  he  would 
strain  himself  to  live  up  to;  an  ideal,  moreover,  that 
coincided  so  adroitly  with  his  own  ideal  of  himself. 
*T  never  knew  a  man  so  vigorously  reject  the  second- 
best.  It  was  a  pity,"  she  continued,  smoothing  out 
and  patting  down  the  fringe  of  the  shawl,  ''that  you 
never  came  across  a  woman  to  suit  you."  She  raised 
her  eyes  to  watch  him  as  she  talked,  and  modulated 
her  phrases  according  to  the  expression  she  found 
on  his  face,  nor  did  she  trouble  to  conceal  the  busy 
mischief  in  her  own;  there  were  advantages,  cer- 
tainly, in  his  blindness.  "How  would  you  have  be- 
haved, I  wonder?"  she  went  on;  "you  would  have 
made  a  stormy  lover,  I  fancy,  once  your  resistance 
had  been  thrown  to  the  winds.  Stormy  and  exact- 
ing. Poor  woman!  Yet  I  dare  say  she  wouldn't 
have  minded.  Women  are  like  that,  you  know. 
And  for  you, — no  more  loneliness,  no  more  unsatis- 
fied longings,  no  more  misanthropy.  I  believe  you'd 
have  grown  into  a  different  man.  You  would  prob- 
ably have  achieved  a  good  deal.  .  .  .  But  it  would 
have  taken  a  clever  woman,  a  very  clever  woman,  to 
steer  you  without  your  knowing  that  you  were  being 
steered." 

"Women  in  my  walk  of  life  don't  have  time  for 
178 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

cleverness,  my  lady,"  he  said  acrimoniously,  giving 
a  literal  answer  to  her  words  because  he  must  ignore 
the  meaning  which  he  read  into  them,  and  which, 
as  he  well  knew,  she  had  intended  him  to  read.  Her 
ingenuity  was  tireless  over  insinuations  that  put  him 
on  the  rack.  Clever,  she  had  said;  she  was  clever 
enough!  why  hadn't  they,  he  wondered,  appointed 
women  to  sit  upon  the  tribunals  of  the  Inquisition? 
"If  you  had  been  born  into  my  class,  or  I  into  yours 
.  .  ."he  burst  out. 

"I  don't  admit  impertinence,  you  know.  Dene," 
she  said  in  a  voice  of  ice,  "and  anyway  I  am  afraid 
I  cannot  give  you  any  more  time  at  present." 

VII 

Thus,  always.  He  hated  his  bondage,  he  despised 
while  he  coveted  the  woman,  he  hated  her  for  hold- 
ing him  bound,  but  nothing,  nothing  was  com- 
parable to  his  hatred  and  disgust  of  himself  in  his 
inability  to  get  free.  Often  he  raved  audibly,  shak- 
ing his  fists;  and  those  who  saw  him  stopped  to 
listen  to  his  mutterings,  and  thought  what  an  alarm- 
ing sight  Silas  Dene  presented,  with  his  wild  blind 
eyes  and  furrowed  mouth  that  mumbled  and  let 
drop  the  tiny  river  of  saliva.     He  was  often  to  be 

179 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

seen  thus  in  the  abbey,  of  an  evening,  prowHng  in 
the  aisles ;  where  occasionally  on  a  Sunday  he  would 
be  perceived  by  the  rare  visitor  attracted  to  Abbot's 
Etchery,  that  strange  island  of  factory  and  Nor- 
man abbey  emerging  amidst  the  floods,  sufficiently 
singular  to  be  worth  the  journey  out  from  Lincoln; 
and  those  who  saw  him  there  went  away  saying 
that  not  the  least  arresting  sight  in  the  desolate  en- 
campment was  the  blind  man  who  in  savagery  and 
loneliness  haunted  the  precincts  of  the  abbey,  and 
whose  incoherent  ravings  could  be  readily  changed 
by  a  little  encouragement  into  a  tirade  of  such 
vehemence,  such  angry  bitterness,  such  bewildering 
aggression.  They  went  away  wondering  what  ailed 
him,  to  have  made  of  him  so  baffling  and  solitary  a 
figure. 

VIII 

Rumour,  at  the  same  time,  began  to  trot  like  a 
jackal  round  the  figure  of  Silas.  There  was  the 
incident,  never  very  clear  to  the  village,  of  the  fire. 
Loyalty  of  course  silenced  Nan  and  Morgan;  and 
Hambley,  to  a  very  large  extent  silenced  through 
fear,  dared  do  no  more  than  drop  hints  that  Silas 
could  scarcely  trace  back  to  him.     Nevertheless,  a 

180 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

taste  of  the  story  got  about,  a  taste  that  the  village 
relished  and  rolled  over  on  its  tongue,  both  in  the 
workshops  and  the  public  bar, — for  gossip  that 
penetrated  the  fiercely  secluded  house  of  the  Denes, 
and  brought  to  light  even  the  tip  of  one  of  their 
buried  secrets,  had  a  legendary  smack  denied  to 
topics  more  vulgar  and  more  frequently  accessible. 

Also,  Lady  Malleson's  name  was  murmured,  be- 
hind the  shelter  of  a  raised  hand. 

Nan  was  aware  of  the  curious  looks,  thrown  at 
her  because  she  had  been  with  Silas  during  the  fire ; 
and  Morgan,  aware  of  similar  looks,  met  them  with 
a  contemptuous  impatience ;  but  Silas  for  some  days 
knew  of  nothing  amiss.  Only  when  he  stood  up  to 
speak  at  the  debating-club,  down  in  the  concert- 
room,  he  heard  a  murmur  pass  through  his  audience, 
a  murmur  of  resentment  and  disapproval.  It  was  as 
though  the  accumulated  resentment  of  the  men,  re- 
pressed hitherto  out  of  a  lack  of  understanding,  a 
certain  awe,  and  even  a  grudging  admiration,  had 
now  broken  its  bonds  under  a  definite  provocation 
that  had  submerged  their  submission  by  arousing 
their  disgust.  It  was  a  low  murmur,  compounded  of 
irritation,  criticism,  and  of  mutiny  under  a  tyranny 

they  no  longer  respected  and   were  therefore  no 

181 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

longer  prepared  to  admit.  Silas  heard  it,  and  with 
his  fist  already  lifted  for  his  peroration,  stopped 
himself  dead. 

He  faced  them,  standing  alone  under  the  dark 
frown  of  many  sulky  and  rebellious  looks. 

"Some  one  spoke?"  he  demanded. 

He  was  accustomed  to  exact  silence  when  he  took 
up  the  debate. 

He  had  very  little  time  to  decide  his  course  of 
action;  he  knew  that  they  were  against  him;  knew, 
obscurely,  why ;  and  dared  not  press  home  the  ques- 
tion. 

Morgan  was  not  present,  or  he  might  have  tided 
over  the  matter,  out  of  pity  for  Silas,  who  in  his 
defiance  looked  so  extraordinarily  gaunt  and  solitary, 
and  so  undefeatably  proud. 

Morgan,  however,  was  busy  elsewhere,  so  that 
Silas  faced  only  a  lowering  throng,  that  sat  obsti- 
nate, chins  thrust  forward  into  palms  and  murmured 
still,  with  deliberate  intent  to  affront,  but  without 
the  courage  to  bring  clear  accusation. 

"This  isn't  the  treatment  Tm  accustomed  to  re- 
ceive here,"  Silas  bayed  at  them  finally,  "and  until 
I'm  invited  I'll  no  longer  trouble  you.     Invited  I 

said,  and  invited  I  meant.     If  I'm  sought  up  at  my 

182 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SPIALLOW  WATERS 

own  house  perhaps  I'll  reconsider  it,  and  come  back 
to  you.    For  the  present,  good-night  to  you  all." 

One,  more  kind-hearted  than  the  rest,  and  perhaps 
ashamed,  rose  clumsily  to  intercept  him  as  he  went 
towards  the  door. 

"Fll  help  you,  Dene." 

Silas  thrust  him  aside,  and  strode  away  alone. 

IX 

When  this  story  had  come  to  the  ears  of  Nan  and 
Morgan,  they  whispered  "The  ^re !"  and  crept  away 
from  one  another  sooner  than  disturb  a  subject  of 
which  they  could  not  bear  to  speak. 

The  fire  had  taken  place  at  night,  and  had  not 
been  in  itself  of  any  importance.  "You  see  nothing 
but  a  few  tarred  sheds  burning,"  Silas  had  cried,  in  a 
frenzy  of  desperation  to  Morgan,  "and  folk  will 
come  to  me  to-morrow  to  say  you  acted  gallantly, 
or  what  not.  Why  shouldn't  you,  seeing  only  wood 
and  flames?  You  don't  hear  it  coming  after  you 
with  great  light  strides  and  flaming  fingers.  ..." 

"Silas,  you're  afraid,"  Morgan  had  said 
gravely. 

Silas    had    checked    himself    at    that;    he    had 

quavered,  and  made  an  effort  to  recover.    The  accu- 

183 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

sation  had  fallen  like  a  plummet  into  the  uncontrolled 
waters  of  his  mind.  He  had  quavered,  and  almost 
gibbered  at  Morgan;  so  greatly  fallen  beneath  his 
normal  standard  of  pride  and  independence  that  he 
had  been  shocking  to  hear  and  see.  He  had  tried  to 
defend  himself,  "Not  afraid,  only  helpless,  help- 
less. .  .  ." 

Nan  and  Morgan  had  stood,  hearing  him  beseech 
them  not  to  leave  him.  Nan  knew  then  that  Silas 
was  betrayed  by  fear  into  revealing  something  he 
usually  kept  very,  very  carefully  concealed;  that 
was  why  the  exposure  was  so  shocking  and  so 
degrading;  and  Morgan  seeing  it  with  her  eyes 
stood  beside  her,  both  equally  hurt,  and  equally 
craving  to  rescue  Silas.  But  he,  in  his  mingled 
panic  and  resentment,  had  had  nothing  but  insults 
for  them,  and,  nearly  screaming,  told  Morgan  to 
clear  out. 

''Shall  I  stay  with  you?'*  Nan  had  asked. 

He  had  hesitated;  he  wanted  to  fling  her  out, 

he  tried  to  make  himself  say,  "No,  go!"  but  his 

extreme  terror  was  stronger  than  this  flicker  of 

his  other,  antagonistic.     He  said,   "Yes,  you  can 

stay,'*  a  heat  of  hatred  for  her  passing  over  him  as 

he  said  it. 

184 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

X 

They  had  sat  in  silence  after  Morgan  had  gone, 
because  Silas  had  forbidden  her  to  speak.  She  was 
glad  of  the  hush,  for  she  felt  that  she  had  passed 
through  a  great  empty  din  and  that  the  brass  vacancy 
of  cymbals  was  still  clanging  in  her  ears.  The  scene 
had  wounded  her,  and  had  roused  emotions  that 
bewildered  her.  Why  should  she  resent  (to  the 
extent  of  stretching  out  deterrent  hands,  as  she  had 
done, )  the  betrayal  of  Silas  by  himself  ?  Somewhere, 
though  she  would  neither  have  probed  nor  acknowl- 
edged, she  had  believed  that  underneath  her  fear 
and  pity  lay  hatred  of  Silas;  she  had  even  tried  to 
extend  her  pity  into  a  reassuring  mental  scorn.  Yet 
to  him,  who  never  spared  others,  she  had  had  the 
impulse  to  cry,  "Spare  yourself."  She  had  suffered 
from  seeing  him  untrue  to  his  own  tradition. 

They  sat  in  silence,  Silas  tearing  at  the  seat  of  a 
rush-bottomed  chair.  Nan  watching  the  unequal 
glow  in  the  sky  outside  the  windows.  She  found 
herself  trembling  from  time  to  time.  Not  with  fear 
of  the  fire,  but  with  disgust  and  regret  of  that  noisy 
scene.  She  wished  that  something  would  happen  to 
restore  him  to  his  ancient  formidable  credit,  some- 
thing to  remove  that  disquieting  sense  of  his  f  raudu- 

185 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

lence.  She  turned  away  from  him,  but  next  moment 
was  glancing  at  him  again;  he  was  destroying  the 
seat  of  the  chair,  shred  by  shred,  his  fine  hands  pull- 
ing at  the  rushes  with  a  peevish  haste  and  his  head 
bent  obstinately  away  from  observation.  Every  time 
a  siren  hooted  he  hunched  himself  more  closely  to- 
gether, as  though  the  compression  of  his  limbs 
would  afford  him  some  protection. 

"I  think  the  glare  is  dying  down,  Silas,"  she  said 
gently. 

He  hunched  himself  fretfully  away. 

He  was  thinking,  "They  are  full  of  forbearance 
and  long-suffering.  Am  I  to  be  taught  gratitude? 
perhaps  through  disaster?  They  would  let  God 
himself  look  into  every  corner  of  their  minds.  Little 
children !"  For  the  moment,  under  the  effect  of  his 
fear,  he  did  not  brand  them  as  lacking  in  savour. 
Their  limpidity  seemed  to  him  as  desirable  as  the 
absence  of  danger.  If  danger  might  but  be  removed 
he  would  abandon  as  the  price  his  own  arrogant  pas- 
sions. He  was  humbled  now  to  another  standard 
of  life.  Weary  of  battle  and  opposition,  peace  ap- 
peared to  him  sweet  and  seemly,  now  that  he  had 
been  granted  tumult, — a.  tumult  not  of  his  own  mak- 
ing, and  entirely  out  of  the  control  of  his  stage- 

186 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

managing.     He  thought  again,  'They  have  never 

a  quick  word  against  me.     Nan  gave  me  a  stick, 

and  I  broke  it  and  said  I  wanted  no  stick,  because 

I  knew  she  expected  me  to  show  pleasure.     I  am 

sure  that  after  I  broke  it  she  had  tears  in  her  eyes. 

But  why  should  she  try  to  coax  me  with  presents? 

or  I  allow  myself  to  be  coaxed?"    He  shuddered  at 

the  long  scream  of  a  siren,  and  reflected  that  they 

had  probably  kept  the  extent  of  the  fire  from  him, 

knowing  that  he  could  not  verify.     For  an  instant 

he  caught  hold  of  the  idea  that  the  fire  might  get 

across  the  village  to  the  abbey,  and  destroy  that ;  and 

a  little  flash  of  old  wicked  glee  passed  across  him. 

But  it  died  away.     He  imagined  the  fire  travelling 

down  his  own  street,  men  and  women  flying  before 

it,   and  he   himself    forgotten,    engulfed, — perhaps 

even  purposely  left  to  perish.    At  this  point  he  spoke, 

*'Are  you  there.  Nan?"    She  was  there.     "I  never 

meant  you  any  harm.  Nan,"  he  said  surprisingly. 

Warm-hearted,  she  was  at  his  side  as  the  words  left 

his  lips.    "No,  Silas,  I  know  that .  .  ."  "That'll  do," 

he  said  pushing  her  away. 

But  he  had  now  started  upon  another  train  of 

thought,  which  he  adopted  and  amplified  with  his 

usual  vehemance.    "God  preserve  me,  and  I  will  live 

187 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

to  befriend  Nan  and  Linnet/*  Obscurely  he  had  the 
instinct  of  propitiation,  offering  his  intention  as  a 
bribe  to  a  very  angry  god;  and  partially  in  his 
chastened  mood, — albeit  but  the  vile  chastening  of 
terror, — he  yielded  to  the  stirrings  of  his  own  re- 
pressed sentimentalism.  Simplicity,  limpidity,  were 
perhaps  not  the  poor  and  bloodless  attributes  he 
had  thought.  Their  case  might  be  turned  convinc- 
ingly by  a  skilful  advocate.  He,  Silas,  had  the  met- 
tle of  strife  within  him;  those  other  two  had  not: 
(The  fire!  the  fire!  in  the  meanderings  of  his  argu- 
ments he  had  almost  forgotten  the  fire.  In  the  rush 
of  recollection  he  knotted  his  fingers  together  till  they 
cracked.  He  was  horribly  afraid.)  Those  two  did 
not  fight  and  wrestle  with  chimeras,  muscles  knotted 
and  sweat  pouring,  as  Silas  did.  Their  minds  were 
not  ridden  by  demons.  They  did  not  sight  every- 
where a  portent,  a  dark  enemy  or  a  fiercely  fair  ally. 
He  had  scorned  them  as  easy,  milky,  satisfied, — he 
knew  well  the  run  of  the  familiar  epithets.  He  had 
tried  to  scorn  them ;  he  had  forsworn  their  kindness. 
He  had  crushed  his  love  for  them,  and  his  longing 
to  allow  the  warm  tide  of  that  love  to  flow  in  solace 
over  him.    He  had  been  proud,  and  had  driven  his 

craft  ever  to  sea,  courting  the  gales  and  riot,  rather 

188 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

than  accept  the  broad  comfort  of  the  haven.  Proud ! 
proud!  how  superbly  proud!  how  proportionately 
base  the  physical  fear  that  could  humble  such  a  spirit 
of  arrogance  in  man ! 


XI 


A  cry  from  Nan  brought  him  to  his  feet,  chatter- 
ing. **What  it  it?  what  is  it?"  in  a  renewed  access 
of  fear.  "Oh,  Silas!"  she  exclaimed,  coming  close 
to  him,  "there's  Hambley  looking  in  through  the 
window;  tell  him  to  go  away,  oh,  please  tell  him  to 
go  away !    He  does  what  you  tell  him  always." 

Hambley  was  indeed  pressing  his  face  against  the 
window,  and  the  shape  of  his  head  was  dark  against 
the  red  sky.  He  was  so  small  that  he  was  only  just 
able  to  reach  the  window  by  climbing  to  the  outside 
sill  with  the  tips  of  his  fingers,  and  the  end  of  his 
nose  was  flattened  white  upon  the  pane.  Nan  could 
see  the  grin  on  his  evil  little  face.  Silas  strode  to  the 
door,  flung  it  open,  and  summoned  the  little  man. 
At  the  end  of  the  street  the  night  was  torn  by  flames. 

As  soon  as  Hambley  was  inside  he  seized  the  little 

man  by  his  collar.     "Now  what  were  you  doing, 

peeping    into    my   house    when    you   thought    you 

189 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

wouldn't  be  found  out?  You  little  skunk,  Fve 
always  called  you,  and  so  you  are.  You  frightened 
Nan,  you  little  skunk.  You  meant  to  spy  upon  me. 
Well,  you'll  see  what  you  get !"  Holding  him  easily 
with  one  hand,  sometimes  swinging  him  clean  off 
his  feet,  so  that  he  twirled  and  dangled  in  mid-air, 
Silas  thrashed  him  with  his  fist,  and  Hambley 
shrieked  and  appealed  to  Nan,  and  tried,  but  quite 
vainly,  to  kick  Silas.  Nan  got  into  a  corner,  out  of 
the  way  of  the  blows.  When  he  had  finished,  Silas 
carried  him  over  to  the  door  and  threw  him  regard- 
lessly  out  into  the  street. 

XII 

Morgan  came  back  at  midnight,  and  said  that  the 
fire  was  over,  not  having  spread  beyond  the  sheds. 
He  was  rubbing  his  blackened  hands  on  a  piece  of 
waste.  His  eyes  fell  upon  the  litter  of  shredded 
rushes  scattered  in  witness  on  the  floor  near  Silas. 
Nan  drooped,  pale  and  tired.  He  began  to  tell  her 
about  the  fire,  trying  to  brighten  her  and  to  make 
her  feel  that  she  was  no  longer  a  prisoner  alone  with 
Silas.  He  was  purposely  taking  no  notice  of  Silas, 
but  presently  looked  up  to  see  the  blind  man  standing 
above  them. 

190 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

He  appeared  to  be  immensely  tall  and  haggard, 
and  upon  his  face  was  a  look  of  suffering,  which  by 
the  accentuation  of  furrow  and  wrinkle  gave  the 
suggestion  that  he  was  unkempt.  His  limbs  and 
torso  were  hugely,  grotesquely  reproduced  in  shadow 
upon  the  walls  and  ceiling  behind  him.  Inscrutable 
to  them,  he  loomed  over  Nan  and  Linnet.  At  last 
he  spoke. 

"You're  glad  to  have  him  back,  Nan.  You're 
glad  to  come  back  to  her,  Linnet." 

Their  eyes  met  in  tremulous  surprise;  was  Silas 
to  serve  as  their  interpreter? 

"You  little,  dainty  people!  Oh,  yes.  I  know. 
Gentle  in  your  dealings.  Amiable.  Indulgent. 
You  don't  criticise — criticism's  uncharitable — might 
hurt  somebody's  feelings.  Let  things  remain  as  they 
are ;  don't  disturb.  Moderation !  That's  your  creed. 
Make  terms.  Compromise!"  He  dropped  ejacula- 
tions, and  swung  into  his  most  rhetorical  vein,  in 
which  he  seemed  really  possessed  by  a  spirit  that 
released  the  unfaltering  words.  "O  pliant  ones  of 
the  earth!  blessed  are  the  meek,  and  flowers  shall 
revive  at  your  passage.  Wander  into  the  woods; 
call  to  the  roe-deer  to  eat  from  your  hand.  Look 
with  envy  at  the  pairing  foxes,  the  nesting  birds; 

191 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

no  creature  so  wild  that  it  may  escape  the  yearly 
call  of  home.  H  the  fox  and  the  vixen  together  can 
burrow  their  earth  for  shelter  and  the  whelping  of 
their  litter,  cannot  you  two  together  build  a  hut 
of  boughs  and  branches  in  a  clearing  beside  the 
stream?  Listen:  I  covet  no  love,  I  am  debarred; 
and  love  when  it  touches  men  like  me  is  no  virtue, 
only  an  indulgence  of  self  and  a  lapse  from 
strength."  He  laughed.  *'Who  would  be  weak?  or 
bestial?  But  in  you,  love  shall  attain  its  highest 
purpose  of  usefulness  and  steadfastness.  To  be 
steadfast  in  love  is  reserved  to  man;  it  is  the  con- 
scious will  of  love,  the  sustained  reason.  Without 
it,  as  well  be  a  dog,  and  couple  in  the  street.  Are 
you  fit?  You  are  young  and  your  minds  are  coun- 
terparts; you  have  no  business  with  me  or  with 
Gregory.  Leave  me  to  Gregory,  and  Gregory  to  me ; 
the  dumb  shall  lead  the  blind,  and  the  blind  shall 
speak  for  the  dumb.  But  you,  go  out,  where  no 
strife  assails,  and  concern  yourselves  with  labour. 
You  are  the  builders,  and  we  are  the  destroyers ;  we 
are  the  cursed,  and  you  are  the  blessed.  You  and 
your  like  must  build  your  security  upon  the  ruins  of 
us  and  our  like ;  it's  the  natural  law.  I  might  have 
been  another  man,  but  God  saw  fit  to  twist  me;  he 

192 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

wrenched  my  spirit  and  upon  each  of  my  eyes  in  turn 
he  laid  a  finger." 

They  sat  absolutely  speechless,  confused  and  con- 
founded that  he  should  thus  trumpet  out  the  secret 
they  had  hitherto  guarded  from  one  another.  They 
had  wondered  and  suffered  and  trembled  much,  but 
of  all  outcomes  this  was  an  outcome  they  had  cer- 
tainly never  foreseen.  It  broke  over  them  like  a 
natural  catastrophe ;  Silas  was  making  it  into  some- 
thing beyond  the  diapason  of  their  souls. 

''Build!"  he  said  passionately,  earnestly,  "build 
with  your  sanity  and  your  health.  Leave  query  and 
destruction  to  the  tormented  spirits;  there  will  al- 
ways be  enough  of  those ;  and  if  you  did  but  know, 
— oh,  world!"  he  said,  clasping  his  hands,  "if  you 
did  but  know,  you  would  pity  the  precursor,  solitary 
and  bold.  Then  comes  the  army  of  the  workers, 
with  honest  tools,  and  their  flowing  quietness. — 
Why  should  you  struggle,  you  two,  beside  Gregory 
and  me?  You  should  be  side  by  side,  perfectly 
matched,  amongst  children  who  should  resemble  you. 
Tell  me,"  he  said,  bending  down  to  them,"you  love  ?" 

When  he  reduced  it  to  those  naked  terms,  they 
were  ashamed  into  honesty,  both  towards  him  and 
towards  each  other;  they  assented,  as  though  he 
"  193 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

were  a  priest  reading  over  them  a  terrible  and  simple 
marriage-service. 

"Then  you  shall  have  the  courage  to  love.  You 
shall  go  unmolested.  You  were  intended  to  fulfil, 
not  to  renounce.  Who  pretends  to  one  law  for  all  ? 
Not  I;  I  wouldn't  dare  utter  such  a  heresy  of  in- 
tolerance. Not  in  my  sane  moments.  Who  would 
take  a  field-bird  up  into  the  mountains?  His  place 
is  simpler;  sweeter.  ..." 

He  suddenly  put  his  hands  over  his  face,  and  his 
voice  faltered,  as  though  he  were  spent  and  had 
nothing  more  to  say. 

"Go  away  now/*  he  said  fretfully,  "I'm  tired  out." 


194 


XI 


This  wound,  this  gash,  to  be  exposed  to  the  vil- 
lage !  How  greedily  they  would  lick  up  his  blood ! 
they  would  set  upon  him  with  claw  and  fang  as 
upon  a  lion  brought  low.  No  delight  could  equal 
the  delight  over  the  dictator  shamed,  or  the  eager- 
ness with  which  those  in  subjection  would  pounce 
upon  the  infallible  taken  in  fault.  But,  while  know- 
ing the  story  of  the  fire  to  be  common  gossip,  he 
would  grant  no  concessions;  he  stalked  about  the 
streets  in  challenging  pride,  more  than  usually  un- 
kempt, more  than  usually  fierce,  an  object  of  whis- 
pered comment  for  all  those  who  had  expected  him 
to  keep  himself  at  last  within  bounds.  It  was  no- 
ticed that  when  spoken  to,  he  threw  back  his  head 
as  though  it  had  been  crowned  with  a  mane,  and  his 
answers  were  too  haughty  to  be  set  down  as  the 
cheaper  insolence.    The  men  were  a  little  impressed, 

195 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

but  to  give  themselves  determination  they  continued 
to  mutter  against  him.  Calthorpe  knew  it,  and  was 
concerned.  He  hinted  something  to  Sir  Robert 
Malleson,  but  Malleson  had  received  an  anonymous 
letter  which  disturbed  and  occupied  every  energy 
of  his  mind,  and  was  unsympathetic.  The  only 
person  with  whom  Calthorpe  could  get  a  hearing 
was  Mr.  Medhurst,  who  called  at  Silas's  cottage, 
and  came  away  saying  blandly  that  Dene  was  an 
altered  being.  Why  had  Calthorpe  so  distressed 
himself  over  Dene's  state  of  mind,  and  the  attitude 
of  the  village  ?  He  could  not  understand.  Calthorpe 
in  his  kind-heartedness  had  surely  been  mistaken. 
"Why,  Dene,  I  am  very  happy  to  find  you  in  so 
Christian  a  spirit."  Poor  Mr.  Medhurst  suffered 
greatly  from  the  trap  of  his  phraseology ;  it  made  all 
intercourse  with  his  fellows  a  source  of  self -con- 
sciousness so  acute  that  he  felt  justified  in  counting 
every  visit  as  a  mortification.  Yet  he  was  unable 
to  control  it.  Visits  to  Silas  Dene  were  a  special 
mortification;  he  had  to  pray  for  strength  before 
setting  out,  and  now  Mrs.  Gregory  Dene,  a  good 
little  soul,  was  not  there  to  help  him.  "Of  course, 
you  are  a  church-goer;  I  often  see  you  in  the  abbey," 
Mr.  Medhurst  pursued. 

196 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"Yes,  sir,"  Silas  replied  gravely. 

"You  seem  to  prefer  the  evening  services?  Ah 
well,  I  dare  say  they  fit  in  better  with  your  work." 
Silas  made  no  reply,  but  sat  smiling  to  himself. 
Mr.  Medhurst  started  another  topic,  "What  pretty 
flowers  you  have  always  in  here.  Dene." 

"Yes,  sir,  my  sister-in-law  does  that." 

"She  must  be  a  great  comfort  to  you,  Dene,  since 
.  .  .  well,  since  you  have  been  by  yourself  ,  ,  .  you 
know.  .  .  ." 

"Since  my  wife  was  killed,  sir." 

"Well  ...  yes;  yes,  after  all,  that  is  what  I 
meant.  I  should  like  to  say.  Dene,  that  I  admire 
extremely  the  courage  you  have  displayed  under 
your  sorrow;  I  think  I  may  claim  that  I  am  not 
unobservant — although,  God  knows,  sorely  wantiiig 
in  other  qualities,  I  add  in  all  humility.  I  will  con- 
fess that  your  conduct  at  the  inquest  impressed  me 
most  painfully,  but  we  need  not  dwell  upon  that; 
since  then  I  have  had  nothing  but  praise  for  your 
demeanour." 

"Indeed,  sir?" 

"Yes,  indeed.  I  was  saying  so  to  Sir  Robert 
Malleson  only  the  other  day.  It  gives  me  great 
pleasure  to  say  so  to  you  now.     You  are  a  brave 

197 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

man,  Dene."  He  pronounced  the  words  "brave 
man"  separately  and  with  emphasis,  and  allowed  a 
suitable  emotion  to  rise  through  his  tone. 

"Thank  you,  sir." 

"Not  at  all,  Dene,  not  at  all.    It  is  only  your  due." 

"Well,  sir,  perhaps  we  all  have  liftings  towards 
honour,"  said  Silas  demurely. 

"H'm!"  said  Mr.  Medhurst.  What  strange 
phrases  the  man  employed!  "Liftings  towards 
honour."  What  could  that  mean?  But  he  was  cer- 
tainly quieter;  quieter  and  better-mannered,  and  his 
frequent  presence  at  evening  service  was  a  hopeful 
sign,  though  Mr.  Medhurst  had  noticed  with  a  vague 
misgiving  that  he  took  no  part  in  the  responses. 

II 

Two  days  after  the  fire  Silas  received  a  summons 

from  Lady  Malleson,  a  summons  that  he  had  been 

expecting  because  he  knew  Malleson  was  away.    It 

was  brought  to  him  not  by  Hambley  as  usual  (that 

was  scarcely  surprising),  but  by  Emma,  Lady  Malle- 

son's   maid.     Would   he  come   immediately?   she, 

Emma,  was  to  bring  him  back.    "I'll  wait  for  you, 

Mr.  Dene ;  you'll  be  wanting  to  brush  up  a  bit,"  she 

said,  looking  at  his  dirty  hands  and  untidy  hair,  but 

198 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

he  scoffed  at  the  suggestion  and  said  that  they  should 
start  at  once. 

In  his  impatience  he  forced  the  maid  to  a  great 
pace,  dragging  her  along  rather  than  allowing  her  to 
lead  him.  She  kept  exclaiming  that  he  would  stum- 
ble over  roots  and  rabbit-holes  as  they  crossed  the 
park,  but  he  brushed  her  caution  aside.  "You're 
very  particular  not  to  keep  her  ladyship  waiting," 
said  she  meaningly,  not  appreciating  this  walk  with 
blind  Dene,  of  whom  so  many  strange  tales  were 
told.  Little  Hambley  had  been  seen  that  morning 
up  at  Malleson  Place,  scowling  and  limping  in  the 
stable-yard,  and  the  grooms  with  much  relish  had 
said  that  Silas  Dene  had  given  him  a  thorough 
thrashing.  Little  Hambley  had,  of  course,  not 
owned  to  it.  He  had  snapped  viciously  in  reply  to 
their  chaff.  Emma  longed  to  ask  Silas  whether  the 
story  was  true,  but  as  no  one  ever  asked  questions 
of  Silas,  she,  like  many  others,  held  her  tongue. 

Ill 

He  was  taken  up  to  the  sitting-room,  introduced 
by  the  maid,  and  left  just  inside  the  door,  as  on  the 
occasion  of  his  first  visit.  But  now  he  knew  the  way 
about  the  room. 

199 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"In  the  house  to-day,  my  lady?"  he  said,  "I  like 
the  garden-house  better." 

"And  you  want  your  own  way,  as  usual?"  she 
asked.. 

"You  say  that  as  though  you  hated  me,"  he  said, 
stopping  dead. 

"What  a  sensitive  ear  you  have,"  she  replied 
cruelly.    "I  do." 

There  was  a  finality  about  this  pronouncement 
which  caused  him  to  take  it  with  the  utmost  serious- 
ness. Her  tones  were  chill  and  bloodless  and  dead, 
and  they  disquieted  him,  so  much  that  he  advanced 
not  another  step,  but  remained  readjusting  his  mood, 
which  had  been  eager,  to  one  of  defence.  He  was 
horribly  startled.  It  was  fortunate  for  him  that 
he  could  not  see  her;  she  had  retreated  from  him  as 
far  as  the  size  of  the  room  would  allow,  behind  the 
sofa,  where  she  stood  shivering  as  though  with  cold, 
her  eyes  fixed  and  unblinking,  her  hand  laid  upon 
her  loose  garment  to  hold  it  close  at  the  throat,  and 
all  her  muscles  gathered  ready  for  swift  escape  at 
any  sign  of  advance  on  his  part. 

"I  should  not  have  sent  for  you,"  she  said,  "but  I 

knew  you  could  not  read  a  letter  if  I  wrote  you  one, 

and  I  did  not  care  to  send  you  a  message  through 

200 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

any  of  my  servants.  I  don't  want  to  keep  you  long, 
as  I  only  want  to  tell  you  that  I  am  leaving  for  Lon- 
don to-morrow  and  shall  not  be  seeing  you  again.  I 
could  certainly  have  sent  you  a  message  to  tell  you 
that.    But  I  wanted  to  tell  you  my  reason  myself.'' 

She  had  prepared  beforehand  what  she  intended 
to  say,  for  her  safeguard  lay  in  frigidity  of  speech, 
and  to  achieve  that  she  must  maintain  frigidity  of 
feeling.  That  had  been  easy  before  he  came;  but 
when  she  saw  him  her  cold  anger  had  been  shaken, 
her  contempt  had  wavered  beneath  a  return  of  her 
old  respect,  and  her  audacity  in  risking  danger  had 
revived.  "I  wanted  to  tell  you  my  reason,"  she 
resumed,  "but  before  doing  so  I  must  own  that  you 
had  completely  taken  me  in.  I  thought  I  knew  you 
well,  but  I  knew  only  that  part  of  you  which  you 
were  willing  that  I  should  know.  I  thought  I  had 
made  in  you  the  discovery  of  something  really 
rather  remarkable.  I  was  rather  pleased  with  my- 
self over  it.  I  know  now  that  I  have  been  stupidly 
mistaken.  Your  elaborate  fraud  deceived  me  as 
being  a  genuine  thing.  ..." 

"I  can  see  you  have  learnt  all  this  by  heart,"  he 
interrupted.  She  flamed  up  no  less  at  his  perspi- 
cacity than  at  his  rudeness. 

201 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"Very  well/'  she  cried,  "Til  drop  my  stilted 
phrases.  I  did  prepare  them,  but  they  are  true,  for 
all  that.  I  have  found  you  out.  You  interested  me, 
you  even  impressed  me, — I  hate  you  for  it.  You're 
nothing  but  a  sham  and  a  coward." 

"It's  not  true,"  said  Silas,  growing  very  pale. 

"It's  so  true,"  she  said  quickly,  "that  the  words 
I've  just  used  to  you  are  the  very  words  you  have 
always  most  dreaded  hearing.  A  sham  and  a  coward. 
You're  such  a  coward  that  there  have  been  moments 
when  you  were  glad  you  were  blind,  because  that 
saved  you  from  dangers  other  men  were  expected  to 
undertake.  You  were  quite  safe  to  talk  about  dan- 
ger; your  blindness  sheltered  you,  and  words 
couldn't  possibly  hurt.  Am  I  not  speaking  the  truth  ? 
Your  blindness  has  been  your  best  friend,  as  well  as 
your  worst  enemy, — your  worst  enemy,  because  it 
favoured  your  horrible  imagination,  and  provided  a 
darkness  that  you  peopled  with  shapes;  your  best 
friend,  because  all  the  time  it  preserved  you  from 
having  to  practise  what  you  preached.  See  how  I 
know  you  now.  I  suppose  it  amused  you  to  deceive 
me,  to  see  just  how  far  you  could  go,  and  sometimes 
when  you  thought  you'd  put  your  foot  an  inch  over 

the  line  of  my  credulity  you  drew  it  back  very  skil- 

202 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

fully.  Now  I  have  simply  found  you  out  for  what 
you  are.  I  have  learnt  the  story  of  the  fire  two 
nights  ago." 

*'Nan!"  exclaimed  Silas,  in  a  burst  of  fury. 

**Not  at  all;  I  have  seen  Hambley.  I  don't  wish 
to  make  any  mystery.  He  came  to  see  me  this  morn- 
ing, whining  and  snivelling,  and  told  me  the  whole 
story:  how  you  had  lost  your  head,  how  you  had 
gibbered  with  fright — gibbered  was  the  word  he 
used — he  says  you  went  like  this,"  and  she  imitated 
a  man  in  the  extremity  of  terror,  working  her  mouth, 
distending  her  eyes  and  nostrils,  and  clacking  her 
fingers;  **he  was  not  pretty  to  watch.  Dene.  Then 
he  told  me  how  you  had  dragged  him  in  and  beaten 
him  for  looking  in  through  your  window;  he  was 
quite  shrewd  enough  to  see  that  you  seized  upon  the 
pretext  of  beating  him  merely  as  a  relief  to  your 
nerves,  that  fright  had  exasperated.  He  came  to 
me  in  order  to  be  revenged  on  you,  and  also,  I  think, 
because  he  wanted  to  whimper  to  some  one.  He  says 
you  went  upon  your  knees  to  young  Morgan,  and 
that  Morgan  was  laughing  at  you,  though  you  didn't 
know  it,  and  that  even  your  sister-in-law  smiled 
more  than  once  behind  her  hand.  Well,  that's  the 
picture  I  carry  away  of  you,  Dene.    You  can  hardly 

203 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

be  surprised  that  I  regret  the  kindness  I  have  shown 
to  you.  I  have  made  a  great  mistake  which  I  shall 
know  better  than  to  repeat  in  the  future."  She 
hardened  herself,  she  mentally  insisted  on  her  relief 
at  escaping  from  a  situation  which  she  had  felt  to 
be  getting  beyond  her  control.  There  were  many 
incidents  she  remembered  with  discomfort,  and  her 
husband  had  been  very  peremptory,  when,  the  anony- 
mous letter  in  his  hand,  he  had  come  to  her,  "If  I 
thought  there  was  any  truth  in  these  revolting  hints 
.  .  ."  yes,  decidedly,  Hambley's  revelations  had  been 
very  opportune  as  an  excuse  for  getting  rid  of  Silas. 
She  thought,  on  the  whole,  she  had  manoeuvred  her 
opportunities  ably. 

"Hambley  shall  pay  for  this." 

"Hambley  must  take  care  of  himself,"  she  replied, 
"I  have  no  doubt  that  you  will  invent  some  form  of 
revenge  which  will  interest  you  very  much  as  a  new 
experiment,  and  you  will  improve  it  and  refine  it 
and  fiddle  over  it,  like  some  magician  preparing  a 
brew.  I  should  never,  at  any  moment,  have  had 
any  doubts  as  to  that.  I  should  like  you  to  under- 
stand that  I  always  knew  you  for  cruel,  unscrupu- 
lous, and  without  heart  or  conscience ;  I  thought  you 

a  ruthless  man,  but  where  I  went  wrong  was  in  not 

204 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

thinking  you  despicable.  I  could  have  respected  you 
for  thorough-going  villainy, — yes,  I  thought  there 
was  a  certain  largeness  of  gesture  about  your  dis- 
content,— but  I  have  only  contempt  for  the  sham." 

Her  voice  had  grown  still  more  cold  and  level; 
it  licked  sharply  round  his  vanity,  and  as  ever,  his 
instinct  flew  to  physical  violence.  He  snarled,  and 
moved  in  her  direction,  knocking  over  a  small  table, 
but  she  dodged  him. 

"Keep  quiet,  Dene,"  she  said,  in  the  same  glacial 
tone,  "we  really  cannot  play  this  ridiculous  game  of 
blind-man's  buif." 


IV 


He  saw  that  he  could  do  nothing  against  her,  and 
indeed  was  too  proud  to  try.  His  pride  had  risen 
correspondingly  to  his  humiliation;  he  would  show 
her  that  something,  at  all  events,  in  him  was  not  a 
sham.  He  was  terribly,  doubly  hurt, — ^hurt  in  his 
heart,  and  hurt,  too,  with  the  uneasy  wound  of 
pride,  his  pride  towards  her,  his  pride  towards  him- 
self. All  that  she  had  said  had  been  so  true ;  she  had 
found  the  truth  as  a  weapon,  and  had  beaten  him 
with  it  across  the  face.     He  was  so  battered,  so 

205 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

gashed  with  scorn,  that  he  was  surprised  to  find 
himself  still  alive  and  sentient.  But  he  was  sentient. 
He  was  indomitable.  His  life  was  so  strong  that  it 
had  not  been  knocked  even  temporarily  unconscious. 
It  stirred :  he  spoke. 

*T  shall  say  nothing  to  justify  myself,"  he  began. 
"If  your  ladyship  wishes  to  think  ill  of  me  you  must 
do  so,  although  I  dare  say  I  could  alter  your  opin- 
tion."  He  was  prompted  to  say  this  by  a  phrase 
that  had  occurred  to  his  mind,  and  which  gave  him 
some  private  consolation,  'T  have,  after  all,  mur- 
dered my  wife,  defied  God,  and  banished  my  own 
son."  But  he  did  not  say  these  words  aloud.  **You 
are  of  course  free,  my  lady,"  he  went  on,  "to  dis- 
miss me  without  being  besought  by  me.  You  call 
me  a  coward;  you  forget  I  have  the  courage  to  live 
alone." 

"The  egoism,"  she  amended. 

"No !"  he  said  sharply,  "it's  discipline,  not  inclina- 
tion, and  it  began  when  I  was  a  boy,  because  I 
wouldn't  have  pity.  Now  it's  a  habit.  I've  shut 
myself  off  from  pity.    I'm  well  schooled." 

"Is  that  all  you  have  to  say?"  asked  Lady  Malle- 

son,  as  he  ceased. 

"Did  you  expect  me  to  plead  for  mercy?    You 
206 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

were  quite  right  when  you  said  you  knew  only  the 
part  of  me  that  I  was  willing  for  you  to  know.  If 
you  had  known  everything,  my  lady,  you  might  have 
been  startled."  He  was  nursing  his  secret  phrase. 
*'But  I  plan  very  carefully  what  I  shall  betray  to 
different  people.  Being  blind,  I  must  invent  things 
to  think  about." 

"You  are  a  demon!"  broke  from  Lady  Malleson. 

Silas  smiled  a  bitter,  gratified  smile;  he  had  at 
least  succeeded  in  making  her  angry.  Having  done 
so,  could  he  reconquer  her?  Should  he  risk  the 
affront  of  failure?  She  was  all  he  had.  No!  if 
she  cared  so  little,  let  her  go.  He  would  not  submit 
to  being  patronised,  to  being  kept  on  sufferance 
by  the  woman  who  alone  had  the  privilege  of  twist- 
ing the  strings  of  his  heart.  If  that  privilege,  so 
grudgingly,  so  agonisingly  accorded,  were  to  be  so 
little  esteemed,  let  her  go !  What  matter  ?  A  lone- 
liness the  more. 

"1  thought  at  first  that  I  would  tell  Emma  to 
bring  you  to  the  abbey,"  she  resumed,  more  quietly; 
"I  thought  that  the  setting  would  please  you  and 
satisfy  your  sense  of  histrionics.  It  would  have 
been  so  thoroughly  Silasian.  For  you  are  his- 
trionic, aren't  you,  Silas  ?" 

207 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"Perhaps,"  he  said. 

"You  and  I,  sitting  on  two  cane  chairs,  in  the  dark 
abbey,"  she  went  on,  "while  I  poured  out  to  you  in 
an  undertone  all  my  opinion  of  you,  my  new  opin- 
ion, for  the  first  time,  my  true  opinion,  and  then, 
who  knows?  the  organist  might  have  come  in  to 
practise,  and  so  provided  an  accompaniment  for 
your  answer.  I  really  believe  your  answer  would 
have  varied  according  to  the  music.  It  would  tickle 
you  to  sway  your  life  on  a  dainty  chance  like  that. 
I  wonder  that  I  overcame  the  temptation." 

"A  great  pity,"  said  Silas  indifferently,  but  as 

though  he  had  allowed  himself  to  be  beguiled  a 

moment  by  the  charm  of  the  suggestion.     She  was 

annoyed  with  herself;  she  felt  that  she  had  allowed 

her  irony  to  run  away  with  her,  to  become  a  little 

too  wild,  especially  when  he  continued  in  a  tone  of 

irreproachable  conventionality,  "I  must  now  thank 

your  ladyship  for  the  kindness  shown  in  the  past 

and  for  the  many  hours  I  have  been  allowed  to 

spend  at  Malleson  Place.     I  appreciate  that  it  isn't 

many  poor  chaps  like  me  that's  given  the  advantage. 

It's  been  a  gift  blown  me  by  the  ill  wind  of  my 

wife's  death  and  my  blindness.     Your  ladyship  has 

a  kind  heart, — they  all  say  so  in  the  village  when 

208 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

they  hear  of  the  favours  shown  to  bUnd  Dene/* 
As  he  spoke  he  made  small  staccato  movements 
with  his  fingers,  bearing  a  resemblance  to  the  dart 
of  Gregory's  pencil  in  some  minute  alteration  of  his 
designs,  a  family  resemblance,  that  in  its  finicky 
precision  was  equally  incongruous  to  both  brothers ; 
in  Silas  the  gestures  seem  to  indicate  the  finishing 
touches  to  a  work  of  art  about  to  be  laid  aside ;  the 
touches  were  given,  possibly,  with  regret,  but  still 
with  a  certain  affectionate  satisfaction,  as  to  work 
well  done,  and  opportunely  completed;  (he  marvelled 
at  himself  even  as  he  spoke  and  gesticulated)  ;  they 
irritated  Lady  Malleson  with  a  small,  wiry  irritation, 
like  some  insignificant  but  exasperating  physical 
pain,  causing  her  to  forget  what  she  had  called  the 
grandeur  of  Silas,  and  to  remember  only  the  warped, 
malicious  artistry  in  which  he  appeared  to  take 
delight. 

Then  he  changed;  he  towered;  he  dwarfed  her; 
all  her  superiority  went  in  a  flash. 

"Listen,"  he  said  then,  so  suddenly  that  she  had 
the  impression  that  he  had  stepped  bodily  out  of  a 
disguise, — ''Your  interest  in  me  may  have  been  un- 
real to  you, — how  could  it  have  been  otherwise? 

You  are  a  fine  lady,  you  have  been  through  many 
1*  209 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

experiences;  I'm  a  rough  fellow,  and  I  dare  say 
bitter  and  brutal  enough.  .  .  ." 

"You  like  to  think  yourself  brutal,  don't  you?'^ 
she  interjected. 

"Such  as  I  was,"  he  said,  "you  had  me;  are  you 
proud  of  what  you  made  of  me? — Oh!"  he  said, 
hearing  her  movement  of  impatience,  "I  won't  make 
you  discourse;  only  that  question  I  wanted  to  ask 
you :  are  you  proud  of  what  you  made  ?  Only  this : 
was  I  so  unworthy  of  your  ladyship?  Have  you 
been  sullied  by  my  contact?  Or  have  I,  by  God," 
he  thundered  at  her,  "been  sullied  by  yours?  I'm 
not  so  sure.  What  are  you  wondering  in  your  mind 
now  ?  whether  you  can  trust  me  to  go  away  and  hold 
my  tongue?  You  think  you  won't  risk  putting  the 
idea  of  indiscretion  into  my  head;  you  probably 
think  it  will  come  there  quite  soon  enough  by  itself. 
Are  you  any  less  of  a  coward  than  I?  You  need 
have  no  anxiety,  I'm  not  tempted  to  revenge  myself 
on  you  in  that  way, — ^you  think  of  that,  you're  pre- 
occupied with  that,  but  do  you  think  at  all  of  what 
you  may  have  done  to  me?  You  picked  me  up 
casually,  and  you  think  you  can  put  me  down  in 
the  same  way.     But,  between  picking  me  up  and 

putting  me  down,  you've  worked  on  me;  you  don't 

210 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

leave  me  quite  the  same  as  you  found  me;  and  I'm 
not  an  easy  metal.'* 

She  was  frightened  when  he  said  that,  and  mut- 
tered hurriedly,  *T  hope  I  haven't  done  you  any 
harm." 

''One  doesn't  know  what  harm  or  good  one  does," 
he  replied,  ''working-man  or  grand  lady.  You'll  go 
your  way.  I'm  asking  you  only  whether  you'll  re- 
member me  with  pride,  or  whether  you'll  think  of 
yourself  as  one  of  the  things  that  dragged  me  back, 
when  I  was  always  trying  to  escape  ?  I'm  not  strong, 
you  know.  I'm  not  strong.  I'm  only  cursed  with  a 
spirit  that's  totally  beyond  my  strength." 

"I  don't  understand,"  she  said  uneasily;  she  tried 
to  tell  herself  that  he  was  making  a  great  fuss ;  but 
she  could  not  get  away  from  the  idea  that  the  "fuss" 
was  tragically  weighted. 

"You're  quite  safe,"  he  said,  with  extraordinary 

gentleness.     "I  never  wanted  to  love,  you  know, 

either  you  or  any  one  else;  I  often  told  you  so;  but 

it  isn't  love  that  I  abuse,  only  the  weakness  that 

submits  to  it.    And  I  have  to  acknowledge  that  you 

are  wise  in  getting  rid  of  me.     I'm  all  awry,  you 

know;  misbegotten;  and  folk  like  me  are  better  left 

alone;  their  misfortune  only  rubs  off  on  to  other 

211 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

people.  You  are  wise  to  protect  yourself;  that's 
always  a  wise  thing  to  do.  I  could  wish  only  that 
you  had  done  it  earlier;  you  would  have  made  it 
easier  for  me." 

The  melancholy  of  his  reproach  surprised  her  into 
saying,  *Ts  it  at  this  moment  that  you're  speaking 
from  your  heart,  or  was  it  just  now?"  and  she  re- 
membered the  sharp  finicky  gestures  he  had  made 
when  he  thanked  her  for  the  kindness  she  had  shown 
him.  'To  what  extent  are  you  theatrical?"  she 
asked,  in  a  little  outburst  of  bad  temper. 

"That  isn't  a  question  I  should  answer,  even  if  I 
had  the  answer  at  the  tip  of  my  tongue,"  he  replied. 
"You  may  think,  if  you  choose,  that  I  am  never 
sincere."  (She  thought,  "He  is  going  back  to  his 
old  manner."  She  was  greatly  thankful.)  "Perhaps 
I  am  no  more  sincere,"  he  continued,  standing  there, 
"than  any  of  your  ladyship's  little  gimcracks  in  this 
room."  His  reference  to  her  gimcracks  was  not  con- 
temptuous ;  he  seemed  rather  to  be  translated  into  a 
region  where  a  large  gentleness  held  sway.  Iron- 
ically enough,  she  thought  that  she  had  never  seen 
him  before,  although  this  was  the  last  time  she  was 
seeing  him.     A  similar  idea  appeared  to  strike  him 

at  the  same  moment,  for  he  said,  "All  along,  I  have 

212 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

fought  against  you,  and  tried  to  disguise  myself 
from  you.  It  doesn't  matter  now.  I  seem  always  to 
be  fighting, — floundering  about, — don't  I?  I  won- 
der whether  I  shall  ever  get  away?  away  from  my- 
self? Would  your  ladyship  ring  for  Emma  now? 
I  should  like  to  go." 

She  got  up  wearily  and  crossed  the  room  to  the 
bell.  He  was  standing  there,  no  longer  scathing, 
but  quiet,  patient,  and  tired.  She  looked  at  him; 
and,  going  swiftly  to  him,  she  caught  his  hand. 

"Listen,  Silas.  Perhaps  Fve  been  too  hasty. 
Listen  to  me.  Perhaps  I  need  not  dismiss  you  alto- 
gether ...  I  might  reconsider.  .  .  .*' 

"No,"  he  brought  out  with  extreme  firmness,  as 
though  he  extorted  from  a  long  way  off  the  last 
tragic  effort  of  an  overstrained  will. 

"As  you  please,"  she  said,  dropping  his  hand,  and 
in  her  angry  haste  she  threw  open  the  door  to  urge 
the  maid  who  was  coming  to  lead  him  away. 


213 


XII 


I 

Gregory  still  worked  obstinately  among  the  vats. 
Calthorpe  had  tried  to  coax  him  away  to  the  engine- 
rooms,  but  got  no  more  answer  than  a  shake  of  the 
head.  In  his  secret  mind,  Gregory  was  preparing  a 
scheme,  now  nearly  complete,  that  would  reorganise 
the  whole  working  of  the  factory;  he  saw  himself  as 
its  originator  and  supervisor,  and  was  far  too  proud 
to  accept  a  preliminary  post  as  a  unit  among  a  num- 
ber of  mechanics.  He  was  living  for  the  day  when, 
before  an  assembled  board-meeting,  he  would  lay 
his  designs  upon  the  table;  although  he  could  not 
explain  them  by  speech,  their  beautiful  precise  sim- 
plicity would  explain  itself  while  he  stood  aside, 
arms  folded,  and  read  the  effect  upon  the  faces  of 
the  directors.  (He  had  tested  some  designs  upon 
Calthorpe, — not  those  designs,  of  course, — and  the 
overseer  had  been  seriously  impressed.  Gregory 
knew  with  calm  certainty,  untouched  by  diffidence, 

that  his  work  was  good.)     Perhaps  he  would  take 

214 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

Nan  with  him  as  interpreter  to  the  board-meeting; 
she  was  inteUigent,  her  small  fingers  flew  fast,  and 
it  would  be  a  compensation,  in  some  guise,  for  the 
hours  he  had  spent  away  from  her  in  abstraction 
over  his  drawings. 

Meanwhile,  time  progressing  towards  that  day, 
he  worked  in  the  gallery  of  vats.  It  was  a  sort  of 
grotesque  vigil.  He  hated  the  nauseous,  automatic 
work,  but  obliged  himself  to  keep  to  it  with  a 
strength  of  mind  that  Silas  wholly  appreciated.  Day 
after  day  he  climbed  the  long  iron  ladder  to  the  upper 
gallery,  dressed  in  splashed  and  grimy  overalls,  and 
renewed  his  occupation,  trundling  hand-barrows, 
emptying  an  over-full  or  cooling  an  overheated  vat. 
When  he  had  to  do  this  he  stripped  to  the  waist,  and 
stirred  and  flacked  the  boiling  slime  with  a  weapon 
shaped  like  a  flail.  Sweat  ran  from  him,  and  in 
the  gaunt  gallery  of  iron  girders,  amongst  the  vats 
of  moving  yellow  fat,  the  play  of  his  shining  muscles 
and  sculptural  body  stood  out  as  a  classical  and 
noble  revelation. 

Regarding  Nan  as  his  chattel,  he  never  wondered 
whether  he  was  or  was  not  agreeable  to  her,  and  in 
his  egoism  never  noticed  her  sensitive  wilting  under 
his  caresses.    His  pride  and  his  machines  were  per- 

215 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

sonalities  infinitely  more  living  to  him  than  the  in- 
strument of  comfort  and  pleasure  that  was  his  wife. 
When  he  had  married  her,  he  had  loved  her  in  a 
rough  animal  way,  that  never  had  in  it  a  streak  of 
consideration  or  unselfishness ;  it  had  amused  him  to 
possess  as  a  toy  something  so  weak,  so  little,  and 
so  pretty,  and  in  the  first  weeks  of  their  marriage 
he  had  devised  games  for  his  own  satisfaction,  to 
pick  her  up  between  both  hands  and  lift  her  till  her 
head  touched  the  ceiling,  or  to  catch  her  up  and  run 
with  her  along  the  dyke — such  eccentric  sports,  that 
half  frightened  her,  half  pleased  her  instinct  by  his 
display  of  strength.  Then  he  had  grown  accustomed 
to  her  flitting  presence.  He  had  ceased  to  raise  his 
head  when  she  came  into  the  room,  or  to  finger  with 
wonderment  her  small  hands,  or  to  turn  over  with 
derisive  affection  the  ribbons,  cottons,  and  odds  and 
ends  in  her  work-box.  She  ceased  to  be  so  dis- 
tinctly, so  newly.  Nan,  and  became  merely  one  of 
the  little  knot  of  four  living  in  the  double-cottage, — 
himself,  Silas,  Nan,  and  Hannah.  He  watched  her 
when  he  had  nothing  better  to  do,  just  as  he  watched 
Silas  or  Hannah,  or,  nowadays,  Linnet,  but  within 
the  vaults  of  silence  his  true  life  was  turned  inwards 

upon  himself. 

216 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

And  Silas  was  studying  him;  Silas  studying 
Gregory !  Communication  between  them  was  almost 
non-existent;  Silas  could,  indeed,  write  on  a  piece 
of  paper  and  Gregory  could  read  the  message,  but, 
beyond  a  clumsy  finger-system  relating  only  to  ele- 
mentary practical  matters, — names  of  objects,  and 
such, — Gregory  was  quite  unable  to  converse  with 
Silas.  Silas  foresaw  therefore  that  he  would  have 
no  means  of  judging  the  effects  of  his  observations 
on  Gregory's  mind.  But  difficulties  only  whetted 
his  ingenuity.  He  needed  an  occupation  and  an 
opiate  as  he  had  never  needed  them  before, — not 
that  he  allowed  himself  to  own  to  this, — and  the 
double  disaster  he  had  undergone,  far  from  hum- 
bling him,  stung  him  to  a  determination  of  mischief 
that  welcomed  any  obstacle  as  an  additional  employ- 
ment for  his  days.  He  stood  at  his  work  in  the 
shops,  before  a  trestle  table,  making  the  square  boxes 
into  parcels,  and  as  he  tied  the  string  he  fancied 
that  every  knot  secured  a  further  mesh  in  the  net 
he  was  weaving  round  unsuspecting  lives. 


II 


But  all  the  while  he  was  gnawed  by  sorrow  for 
what  he  was  doing.     Nan!     Linnet!  so  young,  so 

217 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

disarming!  he  knew  he  loved  them  both.  In  his 
mind  they  were  children.  Could  he  but  struggle 
out  of  the  deadly  groove  of  perversity  that  held 
him,  could  he  but  shake  off  the  innumerable  fetters 
of  his  small  malignities !  As  well  hope  to  shake  off 
the  physical  cowardice  that  was  his  secret  torment 
and  his  shame.  To  rise !  to  escape !  to  leave  behind 
all  the  indignity  of  petulance  and  rancour!  at  times 
he  fancied  almost  that  he  could  hear  the  beating  of 
great  wings,  and  a  kind  of  swoon  overtook  him, 
as  one  who  has  fasted,  or  has  remained  too  long 
in  mystic  contemplation;  but,  emerging  from  it,  he 
was  instantly  wrapped  up  again  in  the  cold  craftiness 
of  his  schemings,  that  tangled  themselves  round 
him  as  surely  as  he  would  tangle  them  round  others. 


Ill 


He  must  forget  Lady  Malleson.    He  wished  that 

the  cause  of  his  disgrace  could  have  been  different; 

those  words,  "a  coward  and  a  sham,"  left  a  bad  taste 

in  his  mouth ;  there  was  no  getting  round  them,  and 

no  getting  round  the  incident  of  the  fire;  he  wished 

passionately  that  the  whole  thing  might  be  blotted 

out :  there  was  Nan's  knowledge,  Morgan's  knowl- 

218 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

edge,  Lady  Malleson's  knowledge, — that  was  the 
worst, — and  lastly  Hambley's  knowledge,  but  his 
contempt  for  Hambley  was  so  great  that  he  could 
disregard  everything  from  that  quarter.  But  he 
could  not  pretend  to  himself  to  disregard  the  knowl- 
edge of  those  other  three;  it  infuriated  and  morti- 
fied him.  Lady  Malleson  knew  him  for  what  he 
was;  knew  him  for  worse  than  he  was,  despised 
him  more  than  he  deserved.  He  had  to  bear  this, 
added  to  his  loss  of  her;  and  he  found  it  hard. 
Once  his  angry  pain  drove  him  to  write  to  her,  as 
lackadaisical  a  letter  as  he  could  compose,  flicking 
at  her  the  phrases  that  he  had  been  slightly  drunk 
on  the  occasion  of  his  last  interview  with  her;  that 
he  apologised  for  presenting  himself  to  her  in  that 
condition,  also  for  whatever  wild  statement  he  might 
have  uttered;  he  sent  the  letter;  in  his  mind  he  fol- 
lowed its  journey;  he  wept  bitter  and  angry  tears 
on  the  morning  when  it  must  be  received. 


IV 


Warily,  above  all,  must  he  tickle  Gregory's  sus- 
picions. 

No  one  knew  of  the  system  that  grew  up  then  in 
219 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

that  house.  The  house  was  secret  enough  at  any 
time;  now  it  contained  a  secret  within  its  secret. 
It  contained  the  pursuit  of  Gregory  by  Silas,  the 
difficult  tracking-down,  the  requisite,  progressive 
measure  of  suggestion,  the  pieces  of  paper  bearing 
the  poison  of  a  phrase,  the  impotence  of  the  dumb 
man,  his  efforts  to  escape  from  his  tormentor,  then 
his  return  in  his  cravings  for  a  greater  certainty. 
Silas  was  intent  upon  his  own  skill ;  a  touch  here,  a 
touch  there ;  he  placed  them  with  a  sharp  and  delicate 
artistry.  His  only  fear  now  was  that  Gregory  might 
refuse  to  go  with  Calthorpe,  and  to  forestall  that 
danger  he  got  hold  of  the  overseer. 

*T  hope,  Mr.  Calthorpe,  you'll  keep  Gregory  to 
this  job.  You  know  he*s  diffident, — ^to  look  at  the 
way  he  sticks  to  those  vats,  he  who's  fit  to  manage 
the  engine  room ! — and  now  he's  saying  that  you're 
wanting  him  to  go  out  of  charity,  like,  and  if  he 
thinks  that,  he  won't  be  beholden  to  you." 

*T'll  go  in  to  him  now,  and  fix  it  up  once  for  all. 
There's  no  charity  about  the  matter;  I  don't  want 
Gregory  to  talk  to  the  plants,  I  want  him  to  look  at 
them." 

"I  knew  I  only  had  to  mention  it  to  you,"  said 

Silas  demurely. 

220 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 


Gregory  was  torn.  He  was  bitterly  unwilling  to 
forego  the  chance  offered  to  his  soHtary  ambition. 
He  was  forty-five,  and  he  had  given  the  whole  of  his 
youth  to  the  patient,  meticulous  study  of  machinery; 
could  he  decline  the  chance,  on  the  strength  of  a  few 
words  from  Silas, — roguish,  busy  old  Silas!  always 
meddling  at  something,  never  letting  well  alone — 
a  few  words  that  perhaps  were  rooted  in  nothing  but 
Silas's  imagination?  No,  he  couldn't  decline  it! 
But  what  if  Silas  were  right?  Nan  was  young, 
Morgan  was  young,  he  constantly  saw  them  talking 
together,  talking  when  Nan  should  have  been  work- 
ing and  when  Morgan,  more  naturally,  might  have 
been  kicking  a  ball  with  other  young  men  on  the 
green.  Here  he  became  full  of  gloom.  Should  he 
charge  Nan  with  it  ?  no,  women  were  too  artful ;  he 
would  learn  nothing  through  charging  Nan.  Better 
to  trust  Silas,  then  by  the  time  he  came  back  from 
Birmingham  Silas  could  tell  him  as  a  sure  fact 
whether  or  no  .  .  .  For  the  first  time  he  began  to 
think  of  the  consequences,  of  the  obligation  that 
might  be  laid  upon  him.  .  .  .  Perfectly  honest,  he 
envisaged  facts  unflinchingly,  in  the  sole  light  under 

221 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

which  they  offered  themselves  to  him.    He  was  not 
a  man  to  admit  alternatives. 

He  had  only  one  slight  hesitation :  was  it  fair  to 
lay  a  trap  for  Nan?  But  he  discarded  the  doubt. 
If  she  were  innocent  no  trap  could  catch  her;  if  she 
were  guilty,  he  had  the  right  to  protect  his  interests 
as  best  he  might ;  he  and  Silas  both  had  that  right. 
They  were  both  handicapped ;  their  whole  lives  were, 
in  some  measure,  the  lives  of  animals  at  bay. 

VI 

He  spent  the  interval  before  his  departure  in 
making  observations  for  himself,  prowling  round 
when  he  might  least  be  expected,  entering  his  house, 
suddenly  and  noiselessly,  or  even  looking  in  through 
the  window, — which,  being  tall,  he  could  do  with 
ease, — and  sometimes  on  these  occasions  he  saw 
Nan  and  Morgan  together,  talking,  in  the  midst  of 
their  occupations,  but  he  never  saw  more  than  that. 
To  see  them  talking  was,  however,  a  source  of  ex- 
asperation to  him;  he  fancied  that  the  most  tender 
words  were  passing  between  them  under  his  very 
eyes,  an  affront,  an  outrage,  that  drove  him  to  gnaw 
his  finger-tips  in  the  same  way  that  Silas  did,  and  to 
fly  the  house  lest  his  black  looks  should  arouse  their 

222 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

vigilance.  His  behaviour  became  wild  and  unac- 
countable. When  he  was  alone  with  Nan,  he  turned 
roughly  demonstrative,  while  behind  his  caresses 
lay  the  intention  of  finding  out  whether  she  would 
wince.  It  was  all  too  clear  to  him  that  she  did  wince. 
More  than  once  he  was  upon  the  point  of  question- 
ing her,  and  again  upon  the  point  of  refusing  to 
leave  with  Calthorpe,  but  he  crushed  these  impulses. 
If  he  remained,  he  might  never  know,  so  wily  and 
circumspect  would  they  be;  if  he  went,  they  would 
throw  off  much  of  their  caution  before  blind  Silas. 
Silas  was  a  good  watch-dog,  who  in  ten  days  would 
nose  out  certainty.  To  the  suspense  of  those  ten 
days  Gregory  would  expose  himself;  a  martyrdom 
which  he  undertook  in  the  bleak  spirit  of  a  martyr, 
grimly,  without  heroics,  in  the  stern  desire  to  win 
truth  at  the  cost  of  pain. 

She  winced — oh  yes!  she  winced.  She  turned 
away  from  him,  said  he  bothered  her,  kept  herself 
unnecessarily  busy.  The  more  she  evaded  him,  the 
less  willing  was  he  to  leave  her  alone;  he  followed 
her  when  she  fled  into  the  scullery,  and  with  a  gasp 
she  became  aware  of  his  silent  presence  as  his  hands 
were  laid  from  behind  upon  her  shoulders.  This 
was  a  persecution  worse  than  the  verbal  persecution 

223 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

she  had  endured  from  Silas!  She  prayed  ardently 
and  with  terror  for  the  day  when  he  should  go.  The 
ten  days*  reprieve  stretched  luminous  as  a  lifetime — 
but  even  then  there  would  be  Silas,  Silas  honeyed 
again,  when,  all  her  wits  cried  to  her,  he  was  fifty 
times  more  dangerous.  She  thought  that  without 
Linnet  she  would  have  become  truly  distracted;  yet 
even  to  Linnet,  at  home,  she  dared  not  speak  over- 
much. She  could  have  kissed  the  forewoman  of 
her  department  who  again  sent  her  to  his  room  with 
a  message. 

VII 

She  knocked  at  his  door  with  no  less  timidity 
than  she  had  done  the  first  time,  her  hand  clasping 
her  beating  heart.  His  voice  called  "Come  in!"; 
she  slipped  in;  his  dim  room  and  the  shining  alem- 
bics were  lovely  and  mysterious,  like  a  fairy- 
story,  after  the  chill  of  the  bare  linoleum-lined  pas- 
sage she  had  just  followed.  In  a  moment  they  were 
close  to  one  another,  their  fingers  wove  together 
without  knowing  how  it  had  so  come  about;  the 
fact  of  being  unexpectedly  alone  came  like  a  draught 
of  water  to  the  thirsty. 

"I  hate  that  passage  leading  to  your  room — it's 
224 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

like  a  prison/'  she  murmured,  raising  her  hand  to 
his  bright  hair;  ''it  so  cool  and  dim  in  here;  I  wish, 
oh,  how  I  wish  I  could  work  in  here  helping  you." 

"It  might  be  arranged  .  .  ."  he  began  enviously. 

"Oh  no,"  she  said,  shaking  her  head,  "we  mustn't 
think  of  it." 

"We're  never  really  alone,"  he  said. 

"No." 

They  looked  at  each  other  gravely  and  pitifully. 

"It  does  seem  so  hard,"  her  small  voice  took  up 
again,  "that  you  and  I,  who  have  never  done  any 
harm,  should  be  spied  on  and  hunted,  because  that's 
what  I  feel :  hunted.  We  haven't  done  any  harm, 
have  we?  only  in  our  thoughts,  that  is,"  she  amended, 
scrupulous,  "and  even  then  I  don't  think  it's  terrible 
harm  to  wish  we  might  sometimes  be  alone.  I  try 
not  to  wish  for  more  than  that,  Linnet ;  I  do  indeed. 
You  mustn't  come  so  close  to  me,  please,"  and  she 
put  out  her  hand  to  push  him  away  a  little. 

"Why  mustn't  I?" 

"You  know  quite  well:  I  can't  bear  your  near- 
ness." 

"Nan,  you  are  the  most  provoking  mixture  of 

frankness  and  prudery.  ..." 

"I  don't  mean  to  be.    I  came  straight  to  you  when 
225 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

I  got  into  the  room,  because  I  was  happy  and  for- 
getful, but  I  am  sorry;  that  wasn't  encouraging 
you  to  behave  as  I  want  you  to  behave.  You  know 
what  I  tell  you :  we  can  tdk,  no  more." 

**But  talk  can  lay  up  trouble  too,  you  know, 
Nan." 

Her  face  took  on  a  startled  look,  as  a  dismayeH 
child's. 

"What!  do  you  mean  we  ought  to  give  that  up 
too  ?  Oh,  no.  Linnet,  I  couldn't  bear  that,  indeed  I 
couldn't;  you  mustn't  suggest  it." 

"Of  course  I  don't  suggest  it;  is  it  likely?  Only  I 
think  you  trick  yourself  into  believing  what  you 
want  to  believe,  and  if  your  conscience  does  prick 
you,  you  try  to  salve  it — and  I  dare  say  succeed — 
by  imposing  some  quite  hypocritical  limitation." 

"Are  you  laughing  at  me  or  not?  Or  are  you 
serious?  do  you  mean  that  I  ought  not  to  see  you 
at  all  or  talk  to  you?  perhaps  you  are  right.  .  .  ." 

"Nan,  you  are  too  perverse!    I  only  mean  that 

if  you  allow  yourself  to  talk  to  me,  and  allow  me  to 

talk  to  you,  and  to  make  love  to  you,  you  might 

consistently  allow  me  to  go  further,  to  take  your 

hand,  for  instance,  without  pushing  me  away  when 

I  stand  quite  respectfully  beside  you." 

226 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

**I  see  what  you  mean ;  I  can't  argue,  but  I  think, 
please,  I  would  rather  go  on  in  the  same  way  as 
before." 

"Very  well,"  he  said  ruefully. 

"And  why  do  you  say  'make  love'?"  she  harked 
back  after  a  little.  "As  though  it  were  just  a  way 
of  spending  the  time?  Anyway,  I  think  I  would 
rather  you  did  not;  we  can  talk  quite  well  without 
that,  and  then  you  need  not  think  I  am  hypocritical." 

"You  do  keep  me  in  order,  Nan,  don't  you?"  he 
said. 

"No,  I  am  often  very  weak  and  cowardly." 

"You  are  only  cowardly  when  you  won't  face 
what  is  to  become  of  us,"  he  replied,  with  more 
seriousness. 

Again  she  looked  startled. 

"Oh,  please.  Linnet,  I  don't  like  talking  about 
that." 

"Well,  but,  my  dear,"  he  said,  "you  know  quite 

well  that  we  cannot  go  on  indefinitely  as  we  are  at 

present ;  you  ought  to  be  the  first  to  realise  it,  with 

your  scrupulous  mind  always   splitting  hairs  and 

dwelling  on  niceties.    If  it  were  light  come,  light  go, 

between  us — there  a  kiss  and  here  an  arm  round  you 

— it  would  be  different.    But  you  know  it  is  not  like 

227 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

that.  It  is  perhaps  your  very  prudery  that  puts  the 
whole  thing  on  a  different  footing.  Anyway  you 
know  that  it  is  a  matter  of  all  our  lives.  .  .  ." 

"Yes,  it  is,  isn't  it?"  she  said,  with  a  contented 
sigh,  and  leaning  up  against  him. 

*'Nan,  you  distract  me!"  he  exclaimed,  "I  say 
that  it  is  for  all  our  lives,  and  you  murmur  with 
pleasure,  as  though  the  whole  thing  were  thereby 
settled.  In  the  meantime  I  am  neither  one  thing 
nor  the  other;  I  am  neither  your  friend,  nor  your 
husband,  nor  your  lover." 

"Oh,  but  you  are  surely  ..." 

"Well,  what  am  I?    I  wish  I  knew!" 

"My  lover,"  she  said  in  a  low  voice. 

"Nan,  don't  hang  your  head  so;  for  pity's  sake 
don't ;  you  are  too  charming  when  you  do  it.  No,  I 
am  not  your  lover  .  .  .  worse  luck.  ..." 

"But  you  do  love  me,  don't  you?" 

"Good  God,  do  you  doubt  it  ?" 

"Well,  you  never  say  so.  You  never  said  it. 
Silas  had  to  say  it  for  you." 

"But  I've  said  so  since." 

"Oh  .  .  .  since!"  she  said. 

"But,  my  darling  Nan,  a  little  way  back  you 

forbade  me  to  speak  of  love  to  you." 

228 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"Yes,  you  see,"  she  said  with  another  sigh,  less 
contented,  this  one,  *T  want  to  have  nothing  on  my 
conscience,  nothing,  nothing,  nothing — except  my 
thoughts,  and  I  can't  help  those." 

"Won't  you  tell  them  to  me?" 

*Tf  I  told  them  to  you,  they  would  be  on  my  con- 
science, and  that's  where  I  don't  want  them  to  be.'* 

"You  are  deplorably  logical,  when  it  is  for  my 
undoing,"  he  said,  sighing  in  his  turn. 

"If  I  had  a  laden  conscience,  I  should  become  a 
coward.  If  I  became  a  coward,  I  should  never  have 
the  courage  to  face  Gregory,"  she  said,  checking  the 
points  off  on  her  fingers.  "No,  stop :  I  know  what 
you're  about  to  say,  'then  you  do  mean  some  day  to 
face  Gregory.'  I  can't  answer  that,  and  you  must 
be  patient  to  let  these  ten  days  go  by ;  maybe  by  the 
time  we're  in  the  middle  of  them  I  will  have  got 
back  my  wits.  I'm  too  scared  now  to  have  any  wits 
at  all.  What  is  going  on  in  our  house  now?  you 
know  no  more  than  I  do,  and  yet  you  know  just  as 
I  do  that  there  is  something  strange.  It's  some- 
thing between  Silas  and  Gregory.  Oh,  it's  dreadful 
to  think  that  there  should  be  something  between 
them  which  they  are  working  out  for  themselves, 
with  all  their  difficulties,  because  they  can't  ask  our 

229 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

help,  either  yours  or  mine.  It  frightens  me  so.  Oh, 
my  dear,  it's  horrible  to  be  afraid  1  Linnet,  you 
must  take  care  of  me.'' 

"You  don't  give  me  much  chance.  .  .  ." 

"No,  I  know  I  don't;  I'm  bad  to  you,  I  know.  I 
seem  to  turn  this  way  and  that  for  a  way  out,  and 
things  press  upon  me,  and  then  I  make  you  suffer  for 
it.  Put  it  down  that  I  scarcely  know  what  I'm 
doing.  ..." 

"No,  I  know  you  don't,  my  pretty,  my  poor 
pretty,  only  tell  me  about  it,  if  that's  any  help, 
and  don't  let  things  get  magnified  in  your  mind 
bigger  than  they  ought  to  be;  hills  look  steeper 
than  they  are,  you  know,  before  one  starts  going  up 
them." 

"Oh,"  she  said,  her  eyes  brimming,  "you're  good 
and  patient,  indeed  you  are.  I  hardly  understand, 
yet,  what's  come  over  us,  that  sometimes  my  breath 
comes  short  and  I  shut  my  eyes  and  think  I  must 
faint  away  with  the  longing  to  see  you.  I  wish, 
sometimes  I  wish  that  something  would  happen — 
something  quite  outside  this  life,  I  mean, — to  re- 
lieve us ;  I  don't  know  what  I  mean,  rightly^  But 
it's  the  weight  .  .  .  and  the  longing  .  .  .  I  can't 

keep  still  under  it,  at  times;  I  have  to  get  up  and 

230 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

move  about  ...  the  longing  ...  the  burning." 
She  put  her  hand  up  to  her  throat  as  though  she  were 
physically  oppressed.  "And  I  put  questions  to  my- 
self— about  you,  I  mean — and  the  answers  come 
springing  without  my  having  to  think.  They  leap 
out,  the  answers  do.  Would  I  die  for  you  ?  Oh,  so 
gladly!  would  I  starve  for  you?  yes,  and  never  a 
word  to  let  you  know.  Would  I  die  if  you  died? 
I'd  pine  if  I  lived  an  hour  after  you'd  gone.  Would 
I  give  myself  up  to  you?  yes — to  beat  me  if  you 
chose;  I'd  shut  my  eyes  and  let  you  .  .  .  That's 
love,  isn't?  It's  like  striking  a  bell;  it  clangs  back 
at  once.  And  now — I  can't  help  saying  it — for 
ten  days  there'll  be  times  when  we're  alone,  and 
I'll  be  less  starved  than  I  am  now;  it  seems  I've 
just  been  keeping  alive  for  this,  and  reach  it  all 
spent  and  gasping.  Oh,  nothing,  nothing  more! 
only  to  talk  to  you,  and  look  at  you ;  we're  strangers 
still.  I  want  to  drink  being  with  you.  Then  I'll  be 
able  to  think,  and  we'll  sort  everything  out,  and  get 
it  clear.  Only  now  I'm  too  parched  for  you,  and  too 
frightened  of  them.  You  must  decide  everything 
for  me,  and  tell  me  what  to  do,  and  then  take  me 
away,  — oh,  take  me  away!" 

She  clung  to  him  as  she  besought  him,  abandoning 
231 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

herself  like  a  frightened  child,  and  putting  her  arms 
up  round  his  neck  exactly  like  a  child. 

"My  God,  I  didn't  know  you  could  speak  so, 
or  feel  so.    /  felt  so,  but  I  didn't  dare  to  tell  you." 

"I  didn't  know  either  .  .  .  one  doesn't  know  .  .  ." 
She  had  sunk  so  unrestrainedly  against  him,  that 
but  for  his  support  she  would  have  slipped  down 
without  resistance  upon  the  floor.  He  felt  that  she 
would  lie  there,  like  a  shot  bird,  at  his  feet,  making 
no  effort  to  rise,  and  letting  her  will  glide  away  from 
her  in  a  passive  extinction  of  self;  it  would  be  for 
her  the  most  exquisite,  and  at  the  same  time  the  most 
spiritually  voluptuous  experience  of  her  life.  As  it 
was,  she  had  never  known  anything  like  the  wild, 
fainting  rapture  of  this  half -surrender.  "Linnet, 
Linnet,"  she  said,  pushing  him  away,  "where  are 
we?  it  won't  do;  we're  being  swept  along;  I'm 
afraid.  Go  right  over  there,  to  the  other  side  of  the 
room;  no,  farther  away  than  that."  She  directed 
him  with  an  imperious  urgent  finger.  "You  mustn't 
come  any  nearer.  Promise.  Sit  down  on  that  chair. 
I'll  stop  over  here."  She  leant  her  head  back  against 
the  wall. 

"Now  we  couldn't  well  be  farther  apart,"  he  said, 

having  obeyed  her.     They  were  both  pale  as  they 

232 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

looked  at  one  another  across  the  width  of  the  room, 
and  their  breath  came  and  went  quickly  between 
their  parted  lips. 

''It's  to  be  like  this  the  whole  time  that  Gregory- 
is  away.  Then  when  he  comes  back  I  can  tell  him 
everything.  If  we  had  been  different,  I  should  tell 
him  less  easily." 

Morgan  was  just  able  to  follow  the  ethics  of  this 
argument. 

"Now  Fm  going  away,"  she  continued;  "you 
mustn't  move.  If  you  moved,  I  should  run  to 
you.  .  ,  ." 

"Oh,  Nan!"  he  said,  stretching  out  his  hands  to 
her  across  the  room. 

"No,  no,  no,"  she  cried,  vigorously  shaking  her 
head  from  side  to  side,  the  shake  becoming  more 
vigorous  as  her  need  for  determination  increased. 
"Oh,  my  darling  heart,"  she  cried,  "I  want  so  to 
come  to  you,"  and  she  fled  from  the  room,  leaving 
him  unbalanced  and  perplexed,  and  in  half  a  dozen 
minds  as  to  whether  he  ought  to  submit  as  he  did  to 
her  directions,  or  to  take  the  law  away  from  her  by 
adopting  a  bolder  course. 


233 


XIII 


She  lay  still  asleep  in  her  bed  while  Gregory  pre- 
pared himself  for  his  journey.  He  trod  in  stock- 
inged feet  upon  the  boards  of  the  bedroom,  throwing 
articles  of  clothing  into  a  carpet  bag,  and  stopping 
to  glance  at  his  wife  who,  with  her  hair  loose  on  the 
pillow  around  her  small  face,  looked  like  some  fra- 
gile child,  and  like  a  child's  too  was  the  shape  of  her 
limbs  beneath  the  thin  covering  of  blanket.  She  lay 
sleeping;  her  lips  parted.  Gregory  had  purposely 
not  roused  her.  It  was  her  undoubted  business  to 
go  downstairs,  light  the  fire,  and  get  him  some  break- 
fast, but  he  would  forego  the  meal  sooner  than  watch 
her  moving  about  the  house  he  was  that  day  aban- 
doning. He  did  not  wish  to  carry  away  the  picture 
of  her  at  her  familiar  tasks,  in  which,  he  imagined, 
she  would  so  soon  be  watched  by  another.  In  his 
fancy  he  pictured  Morgan  entering  the  house  as 
soon  as  he,  Gregory,  had  safely  left  it.    Would  they 

234 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

breakfast  delightedly  together?  or  would  the  fear 
of  Silas  counsel  prudence?  Again,  as  many  times 
before,  he  was  upon  the  point  of  renouncing  his 
journey.  He  looked  at  Nan  with  his  fists  clinched, 
a  storm  of  hatred  and  possession  tearing  him.  His 
placid  inward  life,  running  as  smoothly  as  the  ma- 
chines with  which  it  was  always  occupied,  had  been 
disturbed  lately,  disturbed  with  a  violence  he  would 
not  have  suspected;  he  was  troubled  and  resentful, 
directing  his  resentment  particularly  against  Nan 
who  had  brought  this  disturbance  upon  him.  He 
glared  at  her  as  she  lay  asleep.  He  thought  angrily 
that  he  should  be  allowed  to  live  as  a  privileged 
designer  of  engines,  not  drawn  into  the  fury  of 
domestic  calamity.  His  nature,  once  roused,  held 
elements  so  harsh  and  intolerant,  he  knew,  that  it 
fitted  him  all  too  well  for  a  part  in  such  a  calamity. 
Had  he  been  aloof,  indifferent  ...  ah!  how  he 
coveted  that  gift  of  indifference.  He  had  it  not; 
he  was  too  much  of  a  Dene.  So  he  dressed  himself, 
packed  his  bag,  and  brooded  resentment  over  Nan. 
She  slept  on ;  breathing  softly ;  unconscious. 

He  was  ready,  but  for  his  coat.    He  stood  in  his 
shirt  sleeves  looking  at  Nan  and  wondering  whether 

he  should  wake  her  or  slip  away  to  the  station  with 

235 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

no  farewell.  Then  he  bent  down  and  slid  his  arm 
beneath  the  pillow,  lifting  her  bodily  towards  him. 
She  woke  with  a  cry,  to  find  Gregory's  face  near 
hers  as  he  knelt  on  the  floor.  It  was  very  fortunate 
that  he  could  not  hear  the  cry,  which,  at  first  merely 
startled,  changed  to  horror  as  she  recognised  him. 
His  sardonic  smile  and  her  widened  eyes  were  terri- 
bly close;  their  two  faces,  by  reason  of  their  near- 
ness, seemed  large  to  one  another.  She  pushed  with 
both  hands  against  his  chest,  struggling  silently; 
only  half  awake,  she  had  not  the  wisdom  not  to 
struggle;  now,  she  knew  only  his  distaste  fulness. 
He  held  her,  hardened  to  a  cold  fury  by  her  resist- 
ance. He  could  see  all  her  muscles  exerted  in  the 
effort  to  get  rid  of  him;  even  the  corners  of  her 
mouth  were  drawn  tight,  and  her  eyes  were  fixed 
on  him  in  concentration.  She  could  not  plead  with 
him,  as  she  could  have  with  another  man ;  their  strife 
must  be  soundless;  she  pushed,  and  twisted  herself 
within  his  grasp,  both  quite  in  vain,  then,  relaxing, 
she  lay  quiet,  with  his  arm  still  beneath  her.  She 
stared  up  at  him.  She  knew,  and  was  terrified  by, 
the  expression  in  his  eyes.  He  drew  his  hand  from 
beneath  her  and  sketched  a  rapid  phrase  on  his  fin- 
gers, at  the  same  time  moving  towards  her.     She 

236 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

answered  vehemently  in  the  same  manner,  her  arms 
pitifully  slight  and  delicate  as  the  loose  nightgown 
fell  back  from  them,  and  the  fingers  racing  in  ges- 
ticulation. His  whole  face  darkened  as  he  read; 
she  saw  that  an  angry  obstinacy  was  taking  posses- 
sion of  him.  She  tried  to  escape  from  the  opposite 
side  of  her  bed,  but  he  seized  her  again,  holding  her 
down,  determined,  revengeful,  and  unshaken  by 
pity.  She  sought  wildly  in  her  mind  for  some  means 
of  release,  finding  none,  when  she  heard  Calthorpe's 
voice  calling  for  Gregory  beneath  the  window. 


II 


She  was  saved,  he  had  gone,  flinging  on  his  coat 
and  snatching  his  carpet-bag,  but  for  long  she  re- 
mained trembling  and  fearing  his  return.  She  shud- 
dered at  intervals  as  she  remembered  their  struggle, 
conducted  in  that  horrible  silence;  their  antagonism 
had  been  so  condensed;  none  of  it  could  slip  away  in 
words.  She  could  still  feel  where  his  fingers  had 
gripped  into  her  flesh.  If  Calthorpe  had  not  come! 
Now,  now,  they  were  on  the  road  to  Spalding;  she 
was  alone  in  the  house,  she  was  to  breakfast  ^ith 
Silas  and  Linnet.     Her  shudders  of  horror  gave 

237 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

place  to  the  sweet  shivering  she  knew  when  she 
thought  of  Linnet,  an  ethereahsed  desire,  a  trembling 
of  her  spirit  more  than  of  her  body,  a  going  out 
towards  a  young  and  fit  companion,  who  by  a  re- 
finement of  perfection  was  also  a  lover.  Gradually 
she  ceased  to  think  of  Gregory,  and  lost  herself  in 
the  other  thought,  lying  propped  up  on  her  pillow 
with  an  unconscious  smile  of  heavenly  happiness  in 
her  eyes  and  upon  her  lips.  She  rose  presently, 
and  in  the  same  dream  started  to  dress,  delighting 
in  the  touch  of  the  cold  water  she  splashed  over  her 
throat  and  arms.  The  puritanical  neatness  of  each 
garment,  and  the  fibre  of  her  laundered  linen,  like- 
wise satisfied  her  as  she  became  clothed.  She  had 
noticed  how,  without  any  exaggeration  of  fancy, 
small  physical  experiences  were  intensified  of  late, — 
colours  were  brighter,  the  song  of  birds  more  ring- 
ing, her  flesh  more  sensitive  to  the  touch,  and  in  look- 
ing at  people  she  had  observed  how  the  pores  of 
their  skin  were  distinct,  or  the  firm  planting  of  eye- 
lashes, and  sweep  of  eyebrow, — all  these  things,  that 
were  foolishly  unimportant,  but  that  added  a  vivid- 
ness to  daily  life.  She  was  in  every  detail  more 
keenly  alive ;  her  nostrils  dilated  to  smell  the  air,  and 

she  touched  the  sill  of  the  window,  where  the  wood 

238 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

was  faintly  warm  under  the  sun,  with  a  sense  of 
comradeship.  She  moved,  too,  with  a  difference ;  her 
tread  became  resihent;  her  foot  was  springy  as  it 
poised  upon  the  ground.  Her  small  head  carried  itself 
with  a  light  elasticity  in  the  air,  and  she  was  actually 
conscious  of  the  soft  mass  of  her  hair  that  caressed 
the  nape  of  her  neck  as  she  turned  her  head.  She 
had  a  wish  for  woods  and  cornlands;  to  sit  in  the 
roots  of  a  tree  beside  a  brook,  allowing  the  water  to 
eddy  between  her  staying  fingers;  to  bathe  her  body 
in  a  lake  or  in  the  surf  of  the  sea.  So,  in  loving  one 
man,  one  loved  the  whole  company  of  earth  ?  Love 
was  illimitable  indeed,  if  it  conferred  that  privilege, 
a  wider  thing  than  mere  absorption  in  a  fellow-being 
that  was  a  creature,  after  all,  of  limitations  as  nar- 
row as  any  other. 


Ill 


They  were  alone,  the  three  of  them,  the  absence 

of  Gregory  so  startlingly  unprecedented  that  despite 

Silas's  presence  she  obtained  a  foretaste  of  complete 

and  sudden  solitude  with  Linnet.  She  was  admitted, 

she,  the  starved,  to  a  feast  of  dominion.    She  found 

herself  translated  into  a  world  where  she,  most  mar- 

239 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

vellously,  was  the  object  of  reverence  and  solicitude, 
and  under  this  warmth  of  spoiling  her  natural  grace 
expanded  even  beyond  the  anticipation  of  his  delight. 
Aware  that  those  ten  days  were  but  a  reprieve,  she 
gave  herself  up  to  making  the  most  of  them, — in  so 
far  as  was  consistent  with  the  narrow  rulings  of  her 
conscience.  Linnet,  exasperated  at  times,  but  rue- 
fully submissive  always,  acknowledged  and  obeyed 
her  imperious  orders.  She  was  very  happy  in  her 
control  of  him ;  all  the  happier,  perhaps  in  the  knowl- 
edge that  she  owed  it  solely  to  the  consent  of  his 
chivalry,  without  which  (O  exquisite  danger!)  her 
security  would,  like  glass,  be  shivered. 

There  was,  unforgettably,  Silas.  Silas  proclaim- 
ing himself  a  friend,  but,  nevertheless,  remaining  a 
spy,  a  jailer.  Silas  who  seemed  to  come  upon  them 
with  a  queer  noiselessness ;  who  cried,  "Well?'*  over 
their  shoulders,  and  who  then,  suddenly  swooping 
down  upon  them,  swept  with  his  hands  to  learn 
whether  they  were  sitting  close  together,  or  apart. 
They  were  always  apart.  Angered,  he  would  say, 
''Well?"  again,  this  time  with  a  forced  benevolence 
in  his  voice ;  and  sometimes  he  would  amuse  himself 
by  walking  along  between  them,  hilarious,  taking  an 
arm  of  each.    This  method  of  surprising  them,  this 

240 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

sham  benevolence,  this  reasonless  hilarity,  struck 
cold  terror  into  Nan  as  something  indefinably  sinis- 
ter. Once,  too,  when  she  met  Silas  tapping  his  way 
over  the  cobbles  towards  the  letter-box,  on  the  en- 
velope which  he  carried  in  his  hand  she  read  the 
name  and  address  of  Gregory.  (Silas  had  adapted 
with  delight  this  method  of  communication.  He 
rubbed  his  hands  together  when  he  thought  of 
Gregory,  in  Birmingham,  tearing  the  flap  open  and 
scanning  the  lines  of  those  able,  indefinite  letters.) 
But  at  other  times  she  was  puzzled  by  the  hungry 
interest  with  which  he  questioned  her,  and  in  which 
her  ear  did  not  detect  the  usual  unalloyed  malignity, 
but  rather  a  wistfulness,  a  desire  to  be  admitted  to 
a  lovely  secret,  a  genuine  craving  for  participation, 
however  humble,  however  incomplete,  and  beggarly 
upon  the  fringe  of  riches.  At  such  times  an  eager- 
ness crept  into  his  face,  as  he  bent  forward  to  ques- 
tion her,  his  hands  hanging  loosely  interlaced  be- 
tween his  knees,  the  strong  cords  of  his  throat 
standing  out  in  sculptural  masses  of  light  and 
shadow;  words  came  from  him  almost  timidly,  as 
though  he  feared  to  presume  or  to  give  offence,  but 
must  nevertheless  urge  his  examination,  irresistibly 

tempted  and  allured.     Nan,  who  sat  sewing,  looked 
16  241 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

into  his  face  with  wonderment.  Experience  taught 
her  mistrust,  but  instinct  taught  her  a  heart-search- 
ing pity.  There  was  always  that  same  f eeHng  which 
she  had  for  Silas,  which  she  could  not  explain,  and 
which  nothing, — no  dread,  no  premonition,  no 
knowledge, — could  permanently  destroy.  It  re- 
awakened always  at  the  sound  of  his  yearning  voice. 
Once  it  led  her  to  put  her  fingers  on  his  forehead, 
**How  much  youVe  missed!" 

He  sprang  away,  detected  at  the  very  moment 
when  forgetful  absorption  had  suspended  his  defi- 
ance. 

"IVe  had  all  I  wanted.  Make  no  mistake.  You're 
wasting  your  sloppy  pity.  .  .  ." 

IV 

Gregory  had  been  so  suddenly  and  so  completely 
withdrawn!  She  adapted  herself  without  bewilder- 
ment to  the  new  order.  She  became  as  a  girl,  be- 
trothed to  Linnet.  Their  relationship  had  all  the 
innocence  of  a  betrothal.  Her  past  life  might  have 
been  blotted  out,  the  future  so  far  distant  (down  a 
vista  of  ten  days!)  as  to  be,  for  all  practical  pur- 
poses, negligible.     She  could  have  drawn  from  this 

a  proof  that  the  violence  of  the  years  lived  between 

242 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

Gregory  and  Silas  had  made  upon  her  being  only 
a  mark  such  as  might  be  soon  effaced.  She,  the 
true  Nan,  had  slipped  away  from  violence,  because 
violence  was  so  unalterably  alien  to  her.  The  lesson 
of  violence  was  a  lesson  she  might  provisionally 
leam,  but  would  never  long  remember.  She  went 
out  now  to  meet  the  condition  she  had  always 
wanted:  the  secure  tenderness,  the  settlement,  once 
and  for  all,  in  her  choice ;  she  was  not  one  who  would 
demand  variety  upon  the  face  of  existence.  Variety ! 
she  had  had  it ;  excitement,  uncertainty,  passion,  and 
the  weight  of  failure  all  around  her,  reckless  because 
resigned ;  she  had  had  all  that,  compressed  within 
the  limits  of  an  iron  circle ;  those  were  not  the  things 
she  wanted.  The  things  she  wanted  were  the  things 
that  Linnet  could  give  her. 

The  subtle  sarcasms  of  Silas  were  incapable  of 
troubling  her  quiet  discernment. 


243 


XIV 


Their  last  afternoon,  a  Saturday.  They  believed 
that  Gregory  was  to  return  at  seven ;  only  Silas  knew 
that  he  was  to  return  at  five.  With  the  hoarding 
instinct  that  this  knowledge  might  be  useful  to  him, 
he  kept  it  a  secret.  They  were  very  silent,  and  re- 
mained close  to  one  another,  holding  hands.  How 
grave  they  were!  They  were  very  self-contained, 
husbanding  all  their  strength.  He  knew  that  they 
meant  to  beard  Gregory  that  evening,  but  he,  Silas, 
equally,  meant  to  outwit  them,  and  he  thought  with 
satisfaction  that  his  cunning  was  greater  than  theirs. 
He  considered  their  silence  with  an  irony  more 
tragic  than  any  of  them  knew.  The  pain  that  their 
company  had  cost  him  during  the  last  ten  days ;  the 
pain,  too,  which  his  own  desire  for  their  happiness 
had  cost  him;  his  angry,  resentful  love  for  them 
both;  the  strain  of  remaining  true  to  his  principles, 

and  his  vindictiveness  (Christine!  Christine!  always 

244 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

Christine,  recurrent,  gnawing,)  all  this  mingled  in 
his  mind  to  a  state  of  folly  with  which  he  was  almost 
unable  prudently  to  deal.  He  acknowledged  that 
he  had  been  partly  to  blame.  He  had  drawn  out 
Nan's  confidences.  But  his  temperament  inclined 
him  harshly  towards  self-flagellation.  .  .  . 

"Only  a  little  time  now,  Nan,  before  he's  here," 
he  said.  "You'll  have  much  to  tell  him,  much  that'll 
interest  him.  Remember,  if  you  want  any  help,  I'm 
here:  Silas  is  here.  Him  being  my  brother,  we 
understand  one  another,  like  you  and  Linnet  under- 
stand one  another.  Blood  brothers  is  close  like 
lovers.  Close  as  lovers. — But  what  call  have  I  to 
talk  of  love,  seeing  I  never  knew  it,  nor  wanted  it?" 

He  went  outside  and  sat  on  the  doorstep,  leaning 
his  back  against  the  closed  door.  The  village  street 
was  deserted,  distant  voices  sounded  from  the  green ; 
in  the  faint  warmth  of  the  April  sun  the  paint  of 
the  door  smelt  hot,  and  flies  buzzed  stickily  in  the 
corners  of  the  woodwork.  Silas  sat  there  clasping 
his  knees,  and  swaying  slightly  to  the  ironical  rhythm 
of  his  own  thoughts.  He  felt  like  a  jailer,  keeping 
those  two  imprisoned  inside;  they  were  happy,  in 
spite  of  the  imminent  crisis;  merely  and  childishly 
happy  because  they  were  together, — ^that  sufficed; 

245 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

he  had  learnt  during  those  ten  days  the  perfection 
of  their  happiness.  Nan  had  betrayed,  under  his 
questionings,  more  than  she  had  probably  intended 
to  betray,  and  under  the  pain  of  defrauded  envy 
he  had  accumulated  a  store  of  knowledge.  They 
seemed  to  be  one  another ;  it  was  not  so  much  sym- 
pathy that  they  enjoyed,  as  identity.  Silas  swayed 
himself  slowly  backwards  and  forwards;  he  put  the 
tip  of  his  tongue  between  his  teeth  and  held  it  there ; 
he  tapped  his  boots  softly  together  because  of 
his  enjoyment.  They  were  inside,  talking;  Greg- 
ory would  be  home  soon.  It  tickled  Silas's  fancy 
to  think  he  had  a  surprise  up  his  sleeve  in  store 
for  them;  he,  the  unwanted  third!  he,  the  ostra- 
cised of  the  village!  they  would  soon  learn, 
all  of  them,  that  he  still  had  fangs.  He  strained  his 
ears  to  catch  the  first  sound  of  the  train,  which, 
after  stopping  at  Spalding,  crossed  the  fenny  country 
at  some  little  distance.  He  wished  for  the  dulled 
rumble  indicative  that  the  train  was  upon  its  journey 
and  therefore  that  Gregory  and  Calthorpe  were 
upon  their  way  to  Abbot's  Etchery  along  the  dyke, 
but  at  the  same  time  he  wished  this  hour  prolonged, 
an  hour  so  entirely  after  his  own  heart.  He  had 
so  many  revenges  to  take,  so  many  old  debts  to  wipe 

246 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

off,  that  no  luxury  of  procrastination  could  be  too 
great.  Provided  only,  indeed,  that  the  completion 
was  sufficient,  and  sufficiently  inevitable;  and  as  to 
this  he  had  no  misgivings. 

He  never  heard  the  train.  He  continued  to  hear 
only  the  distant  shouts  from  the  green,  the  small 
noises  of  insects,  and  the  murmur  within  the  room — 
not  a  continued  murmur,  only  an  intermittent  one — 
and  the  first  sound  that  drew  him  from  his  torpor 
of  satisfaction  was  that  of  footsteps  on  the  cobbles 
and  Calthorpe's  voice,  in  its  somewhat  irritatingly 
cheery  tones,  "Friend  Silas !  well,  Fve  brought  back 
Gregory  safe  and  sound,  and  how  are  you  all  at 
homer* 

Gregory  stood  planted  in  the  middle  of  the  street 
watching  his  brother's  face  for  his  greeting  of  Cal- 
thorpe.  His  throat  heaved,  and  his  suppressed  vio- 
lence, which  was  entirely  apparent,  made  his  stiff 
black  travelling  suit  and  bowler  hat  seem  puerile 
and  ridiculous.  He  was  in  one  of  those  primitive 
moods  when  civilised  trappings  become  laughable : 
an  angry  man  in  a  bowler  hat  .  .  .  Not  only  angry, 
but  convulsed  with  anxiety,  and  with  a  rage  that 
prayed  only  to  be  released.     Yes,  even  though  that 

rage  must  destroy  his  soul,  it  craved  for  an  outlet. 

247 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

A  man  so  minded  would  not  have  thanked  the  reas- 
suring speech  that  drove  back  the  straining  rage  as 
unwarrantable.  The  bag  he  carried  was  as  paper  in 
his  hand.  His  limbs  seemed  to  burst  out  of  his 
clothes ;  strong  muscle  impatient  for  nakedness.  His 
throat  reared  itself  out  of  his  collar.  His  hands 
protruded  starkly  from  his  cuffs.  Civilisation  upon 
him  was  as  preposterous  as  the  naked  man  wrestling 
beneath  was  superb.  He  stood  with  his  feet  planted 
wide  apart,  in  the  attitude  of  one  who  awaits  and 
encourages  an  attack. 

Silas  was  petulant  at  being  taken  by  surprise; 
"I  didn't  expect  you,"  he  said,  as  though  he  had  been 
cheated  of  his  due.  "Well,  now  that  we're  here,  let 
us  come  in,"  said  Calthorpe,  still  good-humoured, 
but  slightly  uneasy ;  he  would  have  liked  the  numbers 
increased,  not  fancying  the  part  of  sole  interpreter 
between  the  brothers;  was  he  to  act  as  light  to  the 
one,  and  as  sound  to  the  other  ?  The  constant  com- 
panionship of  Gregory,  and,  above  all,  the  railway 
journey  that  day,  and  the  walk  along  the  dyke,  had 
convinced  him  that  all  was  very  far  from  well 
amongst  the  Denes.  "No,"  said  Silas,  standing  up 
and  stretching  his  arms  crucifix-wise  across  the  door, 
"you  can't  go  in  there." 

248 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

Gregory  saw  the  gesture,  which  was  intelligible 
enough,  although  he  did  not  hear  the  words.  A  per- 
verse relief  swept  over  him,  at  having  his  worst 
dread  confirmed.  A  horrible  inarticulate  noise  broke 
from  him,  which  made  Calthorpe  swing  round  in 
his  direction.  ''Good  God,"  said  Calthorpe  ap- 
palled, ''it's  like  a  baboon,"  and  he  continued  to  stare, 
expecting  the  noise  to  be  repeated.  Silas,  too,  had 
heard;  "Yes — like  a  brute,"  he  said,  becoming  trans- 
figured with  delight  as  he  saw  the  certainty  of 
manoeuvring  that  brute  with  the  cunning  of  his  own 
intellect.  Gregory  never  utttered  a  sound  unless  he 
was  extraordinarily  moved.  "Tell  him,  Mr.  Cal- 
thorpe," said  Silas,  "that  he  can't  go  into  my  cot- 
tage." 

"He  wants  to  know  why,"  said  Calthorpe,  having 
delivered  this  message  and  received  the  answer  from 
Gregory's  quivering  fingers.  "He  looks  as  though 
he  might  spring  upon  you  at  any  moment,  Silas." 
He  watched,  anxiously,  first  one  and  then  the  other. 

"Gathering  himself  together,  is  he?" 

"Yes — he  doesn't  look  as  though  he'd  hold  him- 
self in  much  longer.  Oh,  you  wouldn't  chuckle  if 
you  could  see  him." 

"Tell  him  to  trust  me  and  not  to  be  a  fool." 
249 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"He  says,  was  it  true?" 

"Tell  him  first,  that  he  must  let  me  manage 
things." 

"I  don't  like  the  look  of  this,  Silas ;  I*m  all  in  the 
dark." 

"Never  mind,  sir;  you  just  tell  him  to  trust 
me. 

"He'll  be  at  your  throat  if  I  don't,"  and  the  com- 
munication passed  silently  from  Calthorpe  to  Greg- 
ory. "He  says  he  will  trust  you  a  bit  longer,  but 
he  wants  to  see  things  for  himself." 

Silas  appeared  to  be  perplexed  by  his  brother's 
impatience,  and  by  the  danger  of  Calthorpe  putting 
two  and  two  together. 

"Ask  him  if  he  will  wait  till  to-morrow,"  he  said, 
at  length. 

This  suggestion  so  enraged  Gregory  that  he  leapt 
at  his  brother  and  was  only  warded  off  by  Cal- 
thorpe's  appeasing  gesture.  He  fell  back  a  pace,  and 
framed  a  message  with  shaking  hands. 

"He  says,"  said  Calthorpe,  "that  he  will  be 
damned  if  he  waits  another  five  minutes.  And  I  am 
damned  myself,  Silas,"  added  the  honest  instrument, 
"if  I  understand  a  word  of  this,  or  if  I  will  go  on 
letting  you  make  a  cat's-paw  of  me  for  your  black 

250 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

tricks.  Call  Mrs.  Dene,  who  perhaps  knows  what 
you  are  up  to." 

Silas  was  outwardly  calm,  but  alert.  He  must 
lose  no  time  in  breaking  up  the  trio. 

"I  shall  explain  everything  to  you,  Mr.  Cal- 
thorpe,"  he  said  earnestly,  still  standing  with  his 
arms  flung  wide  across  the  door,  **but  he's  a  danger- 
ous man,  my  brother.  He's  in  a  dangerous  temper. 
To  tell  you  the  truth,  Mr.  Calthorpe,"  he  ran  on 
with  extreme  glibness,  "he  suspects  some  one  of  tam- 
pering with  his  designs — but  keep  that  for  yourself. 
I've  got  the  proofs  inside  my  cottage,  only  I  didn't 
expect  you  so  early.  We  must  get  him  away.  Tell 
him  to  go  into  his  own  place  and  change  his  clothes, 
and  I'll  send  his  wife  to  him." 

"Well,  there  seems  to  be  no  harm  in  that,"  said 
Calthorpe  dubiously. 

"Believe  me,  sir,  I'm  acting  for  the  best." 

"H'm — you  seem  mighty  eager  to  get  your 
brother  out  of  the  way." 

"Surely  you  only  have  to  look  at  him,  Mr.  Cal- 
thorpe." 

Calthorpe  looked,  and,  having  done  so,  he  asked 
Gregory  to  go.  "But  I  am  damned  if  I  understand," 
he  said  again,  taking  off  his  hat  and  scratching  his 

251 


JHE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

head.  "You  Denes  are  hard  fellows  to  make  out,'* 
he  added  in  an  access  of  irritation,  seeing  the  expres- 
sion on  Silas's  face,  and  indeed  he  felt  that  his 
irritation  was  only  small  and  petulant  beside  the 
anger  of  Gregory  and  the  sardonic  malevolence  of 
Silas.  If  it  were  not  for  Nan,  he  would  wash  his 
hands  of  the  whole  lot  of  them.  His  easy-going 
philosophy  of  life  was  too  greatly  disturbed  by  the 
stress  and  inexplicable  ferment  of  the  Denes.  He 
saw  Gregory  scowling  in  his  indecision,  than  a  mes- 
sage came  from  the  able  fingers,  which  he  passed 
on  to  Silas.  "He  says  he  will  wait  for  his  wife  in  his 
own  cottage." 

"Tell  him  she  shall  join  him  there,"  said  Silas 
grimly. 


II 


Devastation  met  Nan's  eyes  when  she  hurried 
into  her  cottage.  The  white  lace  curtains  were  torn 
from  the  windows  and  the  pictures  lay  scattered 
about  the  floor.  Any  ornament  or  attempt  at  decor- 
ation had  been  snatched  from  its  place  and  flung 
across  the  room.     In  the  midst  of  this  wreckage 

stood  Gregory,  in  his  shirt  sleeves,  his  chest  heaving 

252 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

and  his  bronze  forehead  shining  with  sweat.  He 
held  out  to  Nan  a  paper  upon  which  he  had  written, 
''Plain  deel  tables  and  chairs  is  good  enough  for  us, 
ivithout  fal-lals"  She  read  it,  and  with  tears  run- 
ning over  her  cheeks  knelt  down  to  gather  up  her 
broken  china,  collecting  the  pieces  tenderly  into 
the  shreds  of  the  curtains.  Gregory  came  towards 
her  and  kicked  the  things  away  from  her  hand.  She 
knelt  upon  the  floor,  gazing  up  at  him  without  pro- 
test but  with  inexpressible  sorrow.  Every  time  she 
renewed  her  gesture  of  gathering  up  the  shares,  he 
scattered  them  again  by  a  kick,  until  in  discourage- 
ment she  desisted,  waiting  for  his  next  manifesta- 
tion. She  dared  not  get  up  while  he  stood  over  her 
in  his  threatening  attitude. 

Silas  came  in;  Nan  found  herself  turning  to  him 
as  towards  a  friend.  Here,  at  least,  was  one  who 
had  some  influence  over  Gregory !  She  felt  herself 
the  alien  before  the  brothers. 

Silas  was  sympathetic.  Silas  commiserated.  Let 
her  go  away  for  a  little,  and  he  would  soothe  Greg- 
ory. Gregory  had  behaved  like  a  peevish  child.  He, 
Silas,  would  remonstrate.  He  even  patted  Nan's 
shoulder  kindly  as  she  passed  him,  drying  her  eyes, 

to  leave  the  brothers  together  as  she  was  bid. 

253 


XV 


I 

It  was  not  long  before  she  returned,  and  saw  Silas 
alone,  with  the  wreckage  created  by  Gregory's  rage 
still  around  him. 

"Silas !"  she  exclaimed,  going  up  to  him,  "where's 
Gregory  ? — where's  Linnet  ?'* 

"You  ask  for  them  in  the  same  breath?"  he  replied. 

"But  I  must  know!"  she  said,  catching  hold  of 
his  arm  and  peering  urgently  into  his  face.  "Silas, 
what  dreadful  excitement  is  making  you  so  quiet,  so 
strung-up  like?  Don't  think  that  I  can't  see  it. 
You're  gathered  all  into  yourself,  like  as  though  you 
were  waiting,  and  your  face  looks  so  strange.  Silas ! 
you  are  in  a  trance?  For  pity's  sake,  speak  to  me. 
If  you  won't  speak,  I  must  go.  I  can't  stop  here. 
I'm  going  out — to  look  for  them  both.  Only,  if  you 
can  tell  me  aught,  won't  you  do  so,  Silas  ?  you  could 
if  you  would,  I'm  sure,  and  I'm  so  broken  by  terror, 
Silas,  if  you  can  help  me  now  you'll  surely  not  re- 
fuse?" 

254 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"The  sinner  must  expect  to  pay,"  he  said 
slowly,  his  eyes  wide  open  and  glazed  into 
impassivity. 

"But  I  haven't  sinned,  God  be  my  judge!"  she 
cried,  wringing  her  hands  together.  "Silas,  I  do 
conjure  you,  as  you  hope  for  mercy  yourself,  let 
your  lips  speak;  tell  me — for  you  know — where 
they've  gone,  and  why?  Tell  me  where  I  can  find 
them.  Oh,  if  I  were  there,  I  could  come  between 
them,  and  if  Gregory  must  injure  me,  why,  then,  he 
must,  but  I  should  know,  I  should  know;  it's  this 
doubt,  this  knowing  that  they're  together,  this  not 
knowing  what  they  may  be  saying!  it  kills  me,  Silas. 
Silas,  see  here,  listen  to  me,  Silas :  I've  not  been  bad 
to  you,  have  I,  Silas?  We've  not  been  bad  to  you. 
Linnet  and  I  ?  Well,  have  a  little  mercy  on  us  now : 
we've  loved,  yes,  but  we've  done  no  more  wrong 
than  that.  I  wouldn't,  with  Gregory  away.  We 
were  to  tell  Gregory  everything,  so  soon  as  he  came 
back.  You  know  that,  Silas. — Oh,  you'll  not  help 
me :  I  see  it  by  your  face.  What  are  you  thinking 
of  ?  I  never  saw  you  look  so  terrible.  But  I  haven't 
time  to  beseech  you  more;  I  must  go,  and  take  my 
chance  of  finding  them,  and  may  your  wicked  heart 
be  afraid  for  whatever  goes  amiss." 

255 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"You'll  not  go,"  he  said  suddenly,  holding  her 
down. 

She  struggled  against  him. 

"Silas,  you  hurt  my  wrist ;  let  go,  I  say.  Oh,  I  see 
it:  you're  in  with  Gregory,  you've  tricked  us;  my 
God,  what  can  Linnet  and  I  do  against  you  and 
Gregory? — ^You  laugh  at  that,  you  fiend,"  she  said, 
quietening  into  despair;  *'you  laugh,"  she  said,  rock- 
ing her  head  piteously  from  side  to  side,  "you  laugh, 
you  laugh!" 

"Gregory's  honest,"  he  pronounced;  "I've  got 
three  of  you,  not  two,  in  the  net.  Gregory's  my  dupe 
too;  he's  an  honest  man." 

"But,  then,  why?  in  God's  name,  why?  what  is 
it,  Silas?  are  you  mad  or  sane?  Are  we  to  be  your 
toys?  What  have  we  done  to  you?  What  had 
Hannah  done?" 

"Hannah?  ..." 

"You  killed  Hannah." 

He  still  held  her  down  on  a  chair,  and  by  the  high 
standard  of  their  present  stress  the  retrospective 
admission  that  he  had  killed  Hannah  seemed  to  them 
both  subordinate.     He  was  breathing  heavily. 

"Hannah  laughed  at  me  and  fooled  me;  she  was 
rough  with  me,   and   sweet-tongued   enough   with 

256 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

other  men.  I  wasn't  going  to  be  fooled  by  Hannah. 
She'd  thrown  in  her  lot  with  mine,  and  if  I  suffered 
she  should  suffer  too.  That's  why  I  killed  Hannah. 
The  world's  been  made  black  for  me;  I'll  make  it 
black  for  others." 

"It's  awful,  your  revenge  fulness  .  .  .  But  I  tried 
to  make  it  less  black,  Silas,  so  did  Linnet;  look, 
I  don't  ask  you  now  to  help  me,  or  to  tell  me  any- 
thing, but  only  to  let  me  go, — won't  you,  Silas? 
It's  so  easy  for  you  to  keep  me  here ;  I  can't  escape 
from  your  strength  if  you're  determined  to  hold  me. 
But  I  beg  you;  I  beseech  you.  Often  you  tried  me 
high,  and  if  I  failed  you  I  ask  your  forgiveness. 
Only  let  me  go  now.  Don't  help  me;  I  don't  ask 
that;  only  give  me  the  chance  of  helping  myself. 
I  ask  with  all  the  patience  and  humbleness  in  me; 
I'm  in  bitter  anguish,  Silas.  Gregory's  hard  enough, 
Heaven  knows,  but  he's  got  the  heart  of  a  woman 
next  to  you." 

"Gregory's  less  bereft  than  I;  I  only  have  my  own 
mind  to  feed  upon." 

"Surely  that's  true  of  us  all,  blind  or  not  blind?'* 
she  said,  in  a  weak  attempt  at  argument. 

"Then  I  was  born  with  a  darkened  mind,  not  only 

with  darkened  eyes,"  he  exclaimed  violently,  and 
^^  257 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

with  renewed  determination.  "I'm  cursed  with  the 
one  as  much  as  with  the  other,  and  though  God 
knows  no  justice  Fll  throw  in  my  quota  to  balance 
the  scales:  I  never  deserved  the  curse  I  got,  but, 
since  I  got  it,  I'll  deserve  it;  and  I'll  see  to  it  that 
others  get  something  they  don't  deserve,  as  I  did 
myself.  Did  you  ever  consider  what  blindness 
meant?  To  be  dependent  on  others'  charity,  to  be 
a  burden,  a  maimed  thing?  above  all  to  have  to  sub- 
mit to  pity,  when  you  were  born  with  a  spirit  that 
wanted  the  envy  of  other  men?" 

"Silas,  Silas,  all  that's  just  words,  and  meantime 
you're  draining  the  life  out  of  me." 

"You're  not  Nan,"  he  said,  "not  Nancy  Dene; 
you're  just  the  victim  of  my  curse.  What  does  it 
matter  that  you  never  knew  Lady  Malleson  ?  Blind, 
you  call  me?  why,  I  think  we're  all  blind — blind 
instruments,  not  more  blind  one  than  the  other.'* 

"Gregory  only  breaks  my  things,"  she  cried  out, 
kicking  with  her  toe  at  a  fragment  of  china,  "but 
you're  putting  all  my  happiness  in  pieces." 

"Yes,"  said  Silas,  "I  told  you  he  was  an  honest 
man." 

"That's  why  we  would  have  put  everything  to 

him  honestly,"  she  began  with  extreme  earnestness; 

258 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"we  would  have  told  him  we  hadn't  sought  one  an- 
other out,  but  that  something  led  us.  .  .  .  We 
had  talked  it  all  over,  what  we  would  say.  Silas,  will 
nothing  soften  you?  You  talk  about  courage:  we 
meant  to  be  brave,  not  deceitful;  you  even  urged 
us,  once,  after  the  fire,  to  hold  to  one  another  if 
we  loved  truly.  You  said  we  were  the  builders; 
you  talked  beautiful.  I  never  knew  a  man  talk  like 
you  talk,  sometimes,  Silas.  You  seem  all  lif ted-up. 
.  .  .  Maybe  you  wouldn't  see  so  bright  if  you 
didn't  see  so  black.  I  had  a  feeling  for  you;  oh  yes, 
I  had !  Though  all  the  while  I  knew  about  Hannah, 
and  after  Hannah,  Martin.  But  I  didn't  know  then 
that  after  Hannah  and  Martin  it  would  be  me  and 
Linnet — and  Linnet !  You  seemed  kindly  to  us,  of 
late.  Was  it  all  a  trap?  did  you  never  feel  kindly 
while  you  spoke  us  fair?  Oh,  Silas,  everything's 
going  from  me.  It'll  go  badly  between  Linnet  and 
Gregory.  If  I  was  there,  I'd  manage;  you  fight 
things  as  they  come  along;  and  Linnet,  he  needs 
me  to  look  after  him.  He'll  be  stiff  and  buttoned- 
up  with  Gregory,  but  that's  not  the  worst :  it's  Greg- 
ory I'm  afraid  of.  Not  speaking,  he  puts  everything 
into  his  fists ;  you  know  what  he's  like,  Silas.    And 

Linnet's  my  life, — my  life.     I'm  telling  you  more 

259 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

than  I  ever  told  him,  save  once.  Won't  you  let  me 
go?"  She  moved  her  wrist  tentatively  within  the 
clench  of  his  fingers. 

'T  waste,  I  fail,"  said  Silas,  holding  her  wrist 
more  closely  than  before ;  "the  day  you  came  from 
Sussex  to  Abbot's  Etchery  you  were  meant  to  fall  in 
with  me.  I  told  you  already,  you're  not  Nan  Dene; 
you're  a  thing.  You're  part  of  my  design.  You, 
and  your  little  loves,  and  dreams  and  what-not — 
I'll  grind  you.  When  I  was  a  boy,  I  set  out  to  give 
people  as  bad  a  time  as  I  had  myself.  My  mother 
hated  my  father  and  was  afraid  of  him;  he  used  to 
jeer  at  her  when  he  saw  how  much  she  hated  Greg- 
ory and  me.  Because  we  were  deformed,  you  under- 
stand. Once  I  was  given  a  rabbit  for  a  pet ;  well,  I 
put  out  its  eyes  with  a  needle.  That  makes  you 
shiver:  I  hold  that  it  was  only  just.  Now  I've  got 
you ;  you'll  be  better  game  than  Hannah,  because  that 
was  over  too  quickly ;  but  you,  once  Linnet  is  taken 
away  from  you,  and  you're  brought  back  where  you 
belong,  to  my  brother,  to  be  my  brother's  wife,  his 
faithful,  broken,  submissive  wife — I'll  know  that 
every  day  your  prettiness  will  wither,  you'll  never 
sing,  you'll  never  put  out  china  for  Gregory  to 
break,  you'll  shun  young  men  because  you'll  have 

260 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

known  the  pain  of  love,  you'll  bury  your  heart  below 
a  mound,  and  your  hopes  beside  your  heart,  and  so 
you'll  grow  old  between  Gregory  and  me,  and  we'll 
speak  less  and  less,  until  you  and  I  sit  as  silent  as 
Gregory  himself." 

He  paused,  but  she  gave  only  a  small  moan. 

"You  were  right,"  he  went  on,  "Linnet  is  with 
Gregory  now.  I  sent  Linnet  off,  and  now  I've  sent 
Gregory  to  join  him.  You  won't  see  him  again, — 
not  if  I  know  Gregory.  Gregory  won't  tell  us  what 
took  place  between  them, — not  he !  He'll  come  home 
presently,  and  you'll  get  our  supper,  and  have  yours 
between  us,  and  after  supper  Gregory'll  get  out  his 
drawings.  And  every  evening  afterwards  will  be 
the  same, — exactly  the  same.  Maybe  you'll  have 
children  and  watch  them  growing  like  me ;  you  don't 
know,  yet,  what  seeds  might  be  lying  in  your  chil- 
dren's minds.  I'd  watch  over  them,  never  fear; 
I'll  not  have  my  nephews  grow  into  milksops,  into 
sentimental  dabs,  .  .  ." 

He  spoke  with  such  virulence  that  Nan  cried  out, 
unbearably  slashed.  That  seemed  to  gratify  him, 
for  he  settled  down  into  an  intermittent  growl : — 

"Your  children. — Your  sons. — But  Denes,  all  the 

same. — Who  stands  alone?"  he  muttered,  taken  up 

261 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

on  that  revived  train  of  thought,  "Who  stands  sin- 
gle? no  one,  it  seems;  your  sons  wouldn't  be  solely 
yours.  Where's  independence?  not  in  this  world. 
O  folly!  to  let  it  slide,  even  in  part,  into  another's 
keeping.  Where  would  be  your  trouble  now,  if 
Linnet  hadn't  your  heart  ?  Freedom  goes  when  the 
heart  goes. — Not  strong  enough. — Loneliness  and 
labour, — yes,  surely." 

"  'Tisn't  all  that,  'tis  happiness  you  grudge,"  said 
Nan,  suddenly  bitter. 

"That's  your  little  view:  there  spoke  Nan  Dene! 
— And  if  you  thought  that,  anyway  why  did  you 
flaunt  your  happiness  in  my  face?    Eh?" 

"Oh,  Silas,  you  kept  asking  me.  .  .  ." 

"And  if  I  did !  Was  it  part  of  your  kindness  that 
you  boast  of,  to  give  me  the  glimpse  of  a  feast  I 
couldn't  share  ?  Was  it  meant  as  a  treat  ?  You'd  be 
willing  to  give  me  kindness ;  I  couldn't  expect  more, 
— a  blind  man  like  me.  Very  lucky  to  get  as  much." 
He  roared  suddenly  with  laughter.  "That's  a  pallid 
sort  of  thing  to  offer, — I  won't  give  you  thanks  for 
that,"  he  cried. 

Nan  thought  that  he  was  really  going  mad;  mad- 
ness and  disaster  had  broken  crashing  over  her 

world.    The  forces  loosed  were  too  great  and  too  be- 

262 


THE.  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

wildering  for  her  to  strive  against;  the  sanity  of 
Linnet,  the  sanity  of  their  joy,  was  lost  for  ever,  lost, 
foundered  in  the  madness  of  the  hurricane  brought 
about  by  Silas  and  Gregory.  For  Gregory  there 
might  be  some  excuse ;  Silas  appeared  to  be  possessed 
by  a  senseless,  impersonal  fury  of  destruction.  She 
thought  she  might  as  well  argue  with  the  unleashed 
elements  as  with  Silas  in  his  bitterness  and  diaboli- 
cal delight.  Yet  life  still  moved,  still  endeavoured; 
and,  pricked  by  its  promptings,  she  struggled, — 

"You  hurt  me  and  Linnet  because  we  are  safe  to 
hurt;  we  can't  hurt  you  back." 

**It's  not  true !"  he  yelled. 

She  was  utterly  astonished  at  the  effect  she  had 
produced. 

"But,  Silas,"  she  said,  inspired,  "we  all  know  you 
for  a  coward.  We  all  know  your  talk  for  bluster. 
Did  you  think  we  didn't  know  that,  by  now?" 


11 


She   had  not  at   first   spoken   tauntingly.      She 

thought  she  had  meant  only  to  pronounce  the  truth. 

Then  she  perceived  that  the  truth  had  cut  deeper 

than  any  taunt.    She  was  as  a  naked,  unarmed  per- 

263 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

son  driven  up  against  a  wall,  that  finds  suddenly  a 
blade  put  into  their  hands.  She  held  it,  but  was 
perplexed  how  best  to  use  it.    She  made  a  thrust, — 

"All  your  talk  is  talk.  It  costs  you  nothing  to 
ruin  Linnet  and  me.  It  cost  you  nothing  to  throw 
out  Martin. — And  Hannah,"  she  whispered,  "and 
Hannah ! — What  have  you  ever  done  that  hurt  your- 
self?" 

From  the  tremor  of  the  hand  still  clutching  her 
wrist  she  discovered  that  he  was  shuddering. 

"You  dare  speak  to  me  so?"  he  threatened. 

"Hit  me, — I  can't  hit  back,"  she  replied,  upheld. 

But  he  made  no  movement  to  injure  her.  His 
defeat  was  as  complete  as  it  was  sudden.  Against 
his  determination,  which  no  appeal  could  have 
moved,  no  bribe  impressed,  she  had  turned  the  sole 
effective  weapon,  his  own  intrinsic  weakness.  There 
was  no  repair  possible  to  a  breach  that  had  started 
from  the  inside.  She  had  struck  down  upon  the  rot 
within  him  and  the  inner  walls  of  his  defences 
crumbled. 


Ill 


Failing  to  understand  what  she  had  brought  about, 

she   sat   watching   him,    alarmed,    perplexed,    but^ 

264 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

through  her  confusion,  something  stirred,  which 
might  perhaps  not  be  called  hope,  but  which  was  at 
least  removed  from  the  despondency  of  death  that 
had  lately  descended  upon  her.  He  maintained  upon 
her  wrist  a  grasp  that  had  now  become  automatic; 
he  sat  bent,  covering  his  eyes  with  his  free  hand. 
She  recognised  only  that  he  must  work  his  way 
towards  his  decision  without  interference  on  her 
part;  he  was  beyond  such  interference,  and  although 
the  stealing  away  of  time  roused  her  anxiety  to  the 
pitch  of  physical  pain,  she  constrained  herself  to 
wait,  tense,  in  the  knowledge  that  Silas  passed 
through  a  crisis  no  less  momentous  than  her  own. 
He  moved  his  body  uneasily  about,  and  unintelli- 
gible mumblings  like  groans  escaped  him.  He 
fought;  he  wrestled.  He  fixed  that  sightless  gaze 
upon  Nan,  saying  in  tones  of  reluctant  abnegation, 
*'And  am  I  to  end  so?"  He  cried  out  once,  startling 
her  by  the  anguish  that  tore  his  voice,  "Failure! 
failure!  beaten  by  a  jeer!  weakness  beats  me;  poor 
blind  Silas,  poor  weak  Silas,  couldn't  stick  to  his 
purpose  even  when  his  end  was  in  sight !"  One  thing 
was  clear,  that  he  suffered  intensely;  but  the  com- 
plexity of  his  sufferings  was  hopelessly  beyond  her 

comprehension.     She  could  only  wait,  and,  trem- 

265 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

bling,  watch.  She  no  longer  tried  to  free  her  wrist, 
fearing  by  that  mere  flutter  of  self-assertion  to  re- 
call his  former  mood.  She  tried  to  pray,  and  her 
mind  produced  a  prayer  like  a  child's,  'Tlease,  God 
.  .  ."  His  ravings  had  ceased,  and  nothing  now 
came  from  him  but  the  small  phrases  that  jerked 
themselves  to  the  surface,  after  which  the  riot  and 
despair  of  his  thoughts  were  again  submerged. 
"Flotsam  and  jetsam,"  he  muttered.  Striking  his 
chest,  he  said,  "Here  stands  Silas  Dene,  who  helped 
two  children  to  happiness, — let  that  be  my  epitaph  !'* 
"Where's  truth?  do  I  know  my  own  mind,  or  don't 
I  ?'*  After  these  disjointed  remarks,  that  emerged  at 
intervals,  like  milestones  marking  off  the  painful 
road  he  was  travelling,  he  released  her  and  stood  up. 
"I'll  save  you  yet,"  he  pronounced.  "Stay  you  there 
and  let  me  manage  things  my  own  way.  You've 
nothing  to  fear  now, — once  there  was  something  to 
fear  in  me,  perhaps,  but  that's  a  thing  of  the  past. 
That's  finished.  You  stay  where  you  are,  and  I'll 
bring  Linnet  to  you.'* 

"You  may  be  too  late,"  she  said. 

"I'm  not  too  late,"  he  replied,  with  such  certainty 

that  she  was  misled  into  thinking  he  had  some  inner 

knowledge. 

266 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

He  put  her  quite  gently  away  from  him  as  she 
tried  to  detain  him,  pleading  to  be  allowed  to  help. 


IV 


He  passed  out  of  the  house,  guiding  himself  by 
his  finger-tips  that  brushed  lightly  against  the  door- 
post. Not  daring  to  disobey  by  following  him,  Nan 
saw  him  thus  lower  himself  to  the  doorstep,  whence 
he  set  out  down  the  street  in  the  direction  of  the 
factory,  slipping  his  fingers  along  the  walls  of  the 
houses.  She  wondered  whether  she  might  venture  to 
follow  at  a  distance.  Inactivity  seemed,  in  that  preg- 
nant hour,  intolerable. — Slowly  she  put  her  shawl 
over  her  head  and  stood  in  the  doorway  holding  the 
edges  of  the  shawl  close  under  her  chin,  and  exert- 
ing her  eyes  to  keep  pace  with  Silas.  He  strode  on 
as  though  confident  in  perfect  vision ;  only  that  out- 
stretched hand  slipping  rapidly  from  house  to  house 
set  any  peculiar  mark  upon  his  progress.  But  Nan, 
with  a  solicitude  whose  almost  maternal  quality  she 
recognised  with  a  shock  of  dismay,  thought,  **He's 
going  much  too  fast,"  for  she  made  no  allowance  for 
the  quickening  of  all  his  instincts  under  the  exalted 
condition  of  his  mind.     She  had  now  no  enmity 

267 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

towards  him.  She  was  too  well-used  to  his  violence 
to  bear  him  any  grudge  for  that,  and  moreover,  in 
her  eyes,  if  he  intervened  on  her  behalf  and  Linnet's, 
he  was  redeemed.  She  recognised  obscurely  that  he 
had  considered  himself  shamed, — shamed  to  the  ex- 
tent of  catastrophe — but  this  problem  she  banished 
as  beyond  the  scope  of  her  understanding.  If  he 
would  but  come  to  her  aid  and  Linnet's  she  would 
accept, — oh,  with  what  thankfulness! — the  benefit 
at  his  hands  without  perplexity  or  investigation. 

He  had  turned  the  corner,  and,  keeping  her  dis- 
tance, she  began  to  follow. 


When  the  factory  came  in  sight  she  realised  from 
the  absence  of  movement  about  the  buildings,  that 
six  o'clock  had  long  since  struck  and  that  the  work- 
people, in  consequence,  had  left  their  employment 
for  the  day.  The  evening  shift,  reduced  to  a  mini- 
mum, would  be  occupied  in  one  or  two  specialised 
portions  only, — in  the  boiler-rooms,  for  example,  or 
amongst  the  engines.  For  all  practical  purposes  the 
Denes  had  the  place  to  themselves.  A  terrible  doubt 
overcame  her:   might   Silas,   still,   be   playing  the 

268 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

double  game  ?  She  pressed  onward,  dwarfed  by  the 
immense  sheds  and  chimneys  that  bulked  around  her. 
She  could  see  Silas  as  he  crossed  the  tessellated 
square.  He  advanced  with  scarce  more  caution,  al- 
though he  had  now  no  wall  to  guide  him,  and,  having 
no  stick,  held  his  hand  at  arm's  length  before  him 
until  some  contact  should  bring  him  up  short.  She 
had  the  dread  that,  did  he  but  turn  round,  he  would 
perceive  her.  She  walked  on  tiptoe,  skirting  the 
sheds  under  cover  of  the  great  water-butts.  Sick 
terror  possessed  her,  and  the  imminence  of  disaster 
weighed  her  down. 

She  saw  Silas  reach  the  foot  of  the  long,  outside, 
ladder-like  stairs  that  led  to  the  upper  gallery  of 
the  main  building,  and,  setting  his  feet  confidently 
upon  the  iron  steps,  begin  to  climb. 


VI 


He  climbed  without  pause,  dwindling  to  a  small 
figure  aloft,  to  Nan  so  far  below.  She  leant  in  col- 
lapse against  a  huge  tarred  water-butt,  pitiably  un- 
decided whether  by  ascending  after  him  she  would 
do  more  harm  or  good.    The  question  was  of  such 

importance  to  her,  but  its  resolution  depended  upon 

269 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

herpoor  unguided  wisdom,  and  she  shrank  from  the 
responsibiHty.  Still  Silas  climbed,  and  stood  at  last 
upon  the  topmost  landing,  and  disappeared  from  her 
view. 

When  he  disappeared  she  hesitated  no  longer,  but 
ran  from  her  shelter  of  concealment,  and  started 
pulling  herself  up  on  the  ascent.  She  went  up  the 
steep  stairs,  pulling  hand  over  hand  on  the  iron  rail 
that  served  on  one  side  as  banister.  She  thought 
that  she  would  soon  be  on  a  level  with  the  black 
smoke  floating  from  the  chimneys.  Through  the 
perforations  of  the  iron  steps  she  could  see  the 
ground  below,  and  when  she  turned  her  head  she 
found  that  the  roofs  of  the  village  had  become  ap- 
parent. She  had  never  been  up  this  way  before,  but 
always  by  the  inner  staircase.  But  Silas,  of  course, 
had  chosen  the  more  gaunt,  the  more  perilous 
method  of  approach. 

Landings  on  the  way  up  admitted  to  two  other 
storeys;  these  she  passed,  having  a  glimpse  of  ma- 
chinery within.  The  top  windows,  square  and 
bleak,  were  those  of  the  gallery, — Gregory's  gallery. 
She  was  upon  the  landing,  and  slipped  in  through  the 
door  which  had  been  left  ajar.  Everything  moved 
quickly  now,  too  quickly  to  admit  of  any  interfer- 

270 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

ence  or  direction,  and  what  would  be  done  now 
would  never  have  the  chance  of  being  undone,  nor 
would  there  be  time  for  any  reckoning  or  dexterity, 
in  the  vehemence  of  colliding  passions  that  listened 
to  no  argument  and  were  endowed  with  a  strength 
beyond  the  reasoned  energy  of  will. 

Inside  the  five-hundred  foot  length  of  gallery  the 
vats  stretched  away  in  low  regular  ranks,  under  the 
even  light  of  the  flat  windows,  pale-brown  with  dirt. 
The  soap  in  the  vats  shifted  and  breathed;  spat  and 
slithered  as  it  boiled.  Linnet  lay  unconscious  on 
the  ground,  as  though  he  had  been  dropped  there  by 
a  man  surprised  at  his  work;  cast  down  with  no 
more  care  than  a  toy  by  some  formidable  strength; 
and  forgetful  of  prudence,  Nan  was  instantly  on  her 
knees  beside  him.  The  other  two  were  at  a  little 
distance,  obvious  of  all  save  their  last  terrible  com- 
bat. Speech  and  sight  respectively  denied  them,  a 
finer  understanding  taught  them  mutual  penetration. 
They  might  have  been  ringed  about  by  flames.  They 
were  alert  only  for  one  another.  Kneeling  on  the 
ground  at  Linnet's  side.  Nan  kept  her  gaze  fastened 
upon  them :  it  was  to  her  very  strange  that  Gregory 
should  appear  so  fully  aware  of  his  brother's  change 
of  front.    That  he  was  aware  of  it,  there  could  be 

271 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

no  doubt ;  he  had  set  himself  ready  in  the  attitude  of 
a  wrestler  awaiting  an  onslaught.  And  Silas, — had 
heaven  miraculously  restored  sight  to  Silas,  that  he 
advanced  with  such  slow  certainty  towards  his 
brother?  He  crouched,  stalking  him.  He  never 
once  blundered  against  a  vat. 

Gregory  leapt  suddenly  upon  him,  and  in  an  in- 
stant their  limbs  were  locked. 


VII 


Thus  grappled,  they  seemed  to  sway  as  a  double 
monster  heroically  proportioned,  a  Herculean  group 
against  the  flat  light  of  the  pale-brown  windows. 
So  superbly  matched  were  they  in  physique  that 
they  remained  almost  motionless,  swaying  very 
slightly  and  with  difficulty  under  the  strain  of  their 
utmost  effort.  That  stillness  and  that  silence  accom- 
panying so  supreme  a  struggle,  were  startling,  por^ 
teutons,  and  unnaturally  impressive,  as  though  the 
contained  violence  within  were  too  mighty,  too  self- 
sufficient,  to  seek  the  relief  of  any  visible  outlet 
whether  of  noise  or  movement.  Their  meeting  was 
a  muffled  encounter  of  force  with  force;  it  had  not 

272 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

the  crash  of  a  collision.    So  they  remained,  arrested, 

stirred  only  by  that  almost  imperceptible  rocking, 

until  doubt  might  have  arisen  whether  they  so  held 

one  another  grasped  with  deadly  intent,  or,  as  the 

likeness  between  them  more  palpably  emerged,  in  a 

brotherly  welding  against  some   danger   imminent 

and  extraneous.    Their  feet  yielded  not  at  all  from 

their  original  planting  upon  the  boards,  their  arms 

flung  around  one  another  had  neither  relaxed  nor 

shifted,  the  slight  angle  at  which  their  bodies  were 

bent  remained  the  same.     The  group  they  formed 

was  of  bronze  beneath  the  spanning  iron  girders. 

But  indeed  the  question  became  one  of  endurance, 

while  the  body's  tension,  flung  on  the  hollowed  hips, 

the  quivering  thighs,  the  knotted  calves,  and  lean 

ankles,  strained  and  cracked  under  the  sustained 

tautening  of  human  sinew.     The  one  who  was  first 

to  yield,  by  so  much  as  the  stagger  of  a  foot,  would 

find  the  advantage  narrowly  pursued,  his  opponent 

weighing  down  upon  him,  pressing  him  hard  across 

their  meagre  margin. — ^Yet,  were  they  meeting  in 

alliance  or  hostility,  the  two  brothers,  so  alike  in 

their  carved  features,  in  the  duplication  of  torso  and 

huge  opposing  members  ? 

Very  slowly  they  bent  together,  straining;  very 
"  273 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

slowly  straightened  themselves  again  to  their  forma- 
tion of  deadlock.  All  this  strife  took  place  without 
a  sound,  and  seemed  to  occupy  a  long  period  of 
time,  as  though  that  group  were  permanent  in  the 
gallery,  taking  on  the  dingy  monochrome  and  adapt- 
ing itself  to  the  proportions  of  the  gallery's 
enormous  setting.  Nan,  the  impotent  onlooker, 
could  foresee  no  ending,  no  outcome.  She  saw  that 
Gregory  stared  into  his  brother's  face  with  a  concen- 
tration of  hatred.  There  was  very  little  to  indicate 
the  intense  pressure  of  strength  that  each  was  put- 
ting forth.  But  a  difference  was  creeping  in, — 
certainly  a  difference  was  creeping  in.  Gregory's 
determination  was  becoming  the  determination  of 
misgiving,  Silas's  that  of  ultimate  mastery.  He  did 
not  appear  triumphant,  but  quietly  sure.  Through- 
out, he  had  been  guided  by  that  security  of  vouch- 
safed insight. 

Nan  dared  not  stir.  She  continued  to  kneel  beside 
Linnet,  who  still  lay  with  his  eyes  closed,  and  the 
mark  of  a  bruise  blackening  rapidly  on  his  temple. 
She  was  deeply  thankful  for  his  unconsciousness. 

The  other  two  held  her  eyes.  Gregory  shifted  a 
foot  backwards  to  steady  his  balance;  it  was  their 
first  definite  movement.     Their  faces  were  close; 

274 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

not  angry,  but  concentrated,  and  Silas's  was  like  a 
cast  mask  of  unflinching  patience.  It  frightened 
Nan  to  look  at  Silas's  face,  he  was  so  immeasurably 
beyond  both  the  greatness  and  the  smallness  of 
things  human.  He  was  like  an  incarnation  of  pur- 
pose, summoned  for  one  set,  finite  task.  His  pres- 
sure was  beginning  to  tell  upon  Gregory,  who  sought 
to  improve  his  grip,  but  lost  ground  in  so  doing,  and, 
staggering  backwards,  was  driven  to  prop  himself 
against  the  side  of  a  vat.  Here  their  grapple  be- 
came more  desperate,  more  final,  in  the  same  un- 
broken silence.  Nan's  imagination  could  not  ex- 
tend to  reasons  or  to  outcome ;  it  did  not  extend  be- 
yond the  struggle  of  the  moment.  She  was  numbed ; 
all  energy  was  absorbed  by  that  group  of  wrestling 
Titans. 

She  bent  down  to  Linnet,  whose  eyes  had  opened 
dazedly  upon  her.  When  she  looked  up  again  she 
saw  a  change.  Silas  had  stooped  until  his  arms 
clasped  his  brother  below  the  waist.  For  one  terrible 
moment  she  saw  Gregory  lifted  off  his  feet,  his  arms 
flung  impotently  up,  his  body  bent  back  in  its  su- 
preme effort,  his  throat  extended,  to  give  vent  to  the 
most  hideous  sound  she  had  ever  heard  uttered.  Silas 

bore  him  up  for  a  moment  in  that  gesture  of  appal- 

275 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

ling  ravishment,  rearing  like  a  centaur  in  the  full 
magnificence  of  his  strength;  and  with  one  mighty 
heave  cast  the  burden  from  him  into  the  boiling 
yellow  slime  of  the  vat. 


27e 


XVI 

I 

Nan  rose  upright,  crying  aloud;  the  wind  of  ter- 
ror had  blown  violently  in  upon  the  stillness  of  the 
gallery.  Silas  towered  amongst  the  vats;  he  wore 
an  air  of  unearthly  triumph  and  exaltation.  **Nan ! 
Nan!"  he  said,  stretching  up  both  arms  with  the 
gesture  of  the  fanatic  over  the  blood-offering. 
**What  have  you  done?  what  have  you  done?"  she 
cried.  "Saved  you, — bought  you  free,"  he  answered 
loudly,  still  lit  up  by  his  triumph,  but  she  hid  her 
face  in  her  hands,  and  moaned,  shuddering. 

Morgan  stirred,  and  lay  gazing  without  compre- 
hension. He  whispered  Nan's  name;  she  started, 
and  turned  to  him,  but  seeing  his  eyes  opened  she 
wildly  laid  her  hand  across  them.  **You  mustn't 
look, — ^you  mustn't  look,"  she  said,  distraught,  in 
the  effort  to  preserve  him  although  she  understood 
nothing  herself. 

In  that  absence  of  understanding  she  saw  only 
277 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

Silas  erect  there  with  his  arms  still  stretched  out, 
as  a  sinner  might  stare  into  heaven,  or  a  martyr  into 
hell,  accepting  either,  because  enlightened  as  to  both. 

"Silas !"  she  called,  unbearably  alarmed. 

"Builders  and  destroyers,"  he  replied  from  afar, 
and  in  the  tone  of  one  giving  utterance  to  a  quota- 
tion of  secret  familiarity. 

"What  am  I  to  do?"  she  cried,  in  a  lost  whisper. 
She  felt  immeasurably  removed  from  the  succour 
of  mankind,  forced  into  the  kindred  of  the  Denes, 
amongst  grotesque  surroundings,  and  grotesque  and 
terrible  events,  high  above  the  comings  and  goings 
of  the  temperate  world.  There  was  no  room  in 
her  mind  for  the  thought  that  the  body  of  Gregory 
was  pitched  sinking  through  the  morass  of  that 
deadly  cauldron.  Then  the  word  "Gregory!"  came 
to  her,  and,  wonderingly,  she  pronounced  it  aloud, 
"Gregory,"  thereby  bringing  realisation  upon  her- 
self, and  the  first  conscious  dismay. 

She  went  to  Silas  and  seized  him  by  the  arm. 

"Silas,  speak  to  me.  .  .  ." 

He  turned  his  eyes  full  upon  her  face. 

"O  God,  can  you  see  me?"  she  murmured,  shrink- 
ing away. 

"There  was  nothing  else  to  be  done,"  he  said. 
278 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

"Oh,  yes,  yes!'*  she  protested,  inarticulate  in  her 
extreme  distress  and  bewilderment. 
"There  was  nothing  else,"  he  repeated. 

II 

She  perceived  then  that,  according  to  the  temper 
of  his  mind,  there  was  indeed  nothing  else.  She 
ceased  to  protest,  overtaken  by  the  actual  conse- 
quence of  his  uncompromising  creed. 

"You  have  killed  Gregory,'*  she  said. 

A  change  came  over  him;  his  look  of  flaming  jus- 
tification died  down. 

"Hannah.  Martin.  Christine.  Gregory,"  he 
said  sorrowfully. 

Nan  was  crying;  she  was  frightened  by  the  mon- 
strous, fantastic  extravagance  of  the  scene.  Silas 
must  have  decoyed  her  to  the  heart  of  some  dis- 
torted maze,  where  death  was  not  solemn,  nor  grief 
venerable ;  and  therein  she  was  lost.  Crying,  her  arm 
crooked  across  her  eyes,  she  made  her  way  over  to 
Linnet,  who  had  risen  to  his  feet.  "It's  soap, — 
soap"  she  stammered,  taking  refuge  against  him. 

He  held  her,  since  no  words  could  help,  and  she 
made  herself  as  small  as  possible  within  his  arm. 
Silas  called  out  to  him  across  the  gallery,  "I  have 

279 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

thrown  Gregory  into  the  vat,"  pointing  to  the  wrong 
vat,  and  forcing  himself  to  laugh  very  loudly. 

"But  what  is  to  become  of  youf  madman!"  Linnet 
exclaimed. 

This  was  a  new  idea  to  Silas. 

"Yes,  I  must  think  of  getting  away,  it's  true,"  he 
replied,  suddenly  busy;  and  he  moved  excitably  in 
what  he  thought  to  be  the  direction  of  the  door. 
But  he  had  lost  his  bearings,  and  struck  himself 
against  the  corner  of  a  vat.  "What's  that?"  he 
called  out.  "I'll  have  no  nonsense,"  he  added,  speak- 
ing in  a  tone  of  incipient  panic  which  he  tried  to 
cover  up  by  menace.  "There  is  no  time  to  be  lost; 
I  can't  be  kept  hanging  about  here,  or  I  shall  be 
taken.  I  must  get  away,  and  hide  somewhere.  I 
must  hide  in  a  barn.  You  will  have  to  bring  me 
food.  The  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to  gtt  away."  All 
the  while  he  was  speaking  he  moved  about,  groping 
amongst  the  vats,  trying  to  find  his  way  out,  but 
amongst  that  number,  where  nothing  helped  him 
to  distinguish  one  from  the  other,  with  each  step 
he  became  more  confusedly  lost.  "I'm  blind !"  he 
cried,  at  last  standing  stock-still,  and  from  the 
anguish  in  his  voice  it  might  have  been  believed  that 

he  had  never  made  the  discovery  before. 

280 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

Then  he  started  to  stride  about,  up  and  down,  in 
and  out  of  the  gangways  left  between  the  vats,  tak- 
ing any  opening  that  offered  itself.  Linnet  tried 
to  speak  to  him;  he  was  interrupted,  reasonable 
words  fluttered  vainly  amongst  the  vibrant  emotions 
with  which  Silas's  soul  was  strung.  Neither  Linnet 
nor  Nan  could  have  any  cognisance  of  such  a  dia- 
pason. "You  shall  not  come  near  me,"  Silas 
shouted;  ''how  am  I  to  know  you  wouldn't  give  me 
up  ?  although  I  killed  Gregory  for  you ;  and  I  loved 
Gregory. — We've  destroyed  one  another.  It's 
right, — people  like  us  ought  to  go.  There's  no  place 
for  us.  I  can't  save  myself,"  he  said,  *T'm  blind; 
every  one  can  take  advantage  of  me.  How  could 
I  live  hidden  for  weeks  in  the  country?  But  I'll 
give  them  trouble  first.  ..." 

He  was  full  of  a  crazy,  hopeless  defiance;  he 
turned  upon  them  the  wild  flash  of  his  sightless  eyes. 
*Tt  must  end  in  defeat,"  he  said,  "what  match  is  a 
blind  man  for  clear-seeing  men?  You  had  me  at  a 
disadvantage,  all  my  life, — all  of  you!  You  were 
orderly,  while  I  struggled.  Gone  under !  but  not  as 
tamely  as  you  think."  As  he  spoke  he  found  the 
door  that  gave  access  to  the  outside  stairs,  and 
dragged  it  open,  blundering  out  into  the  air  on  the 

281 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

iron  landing.  They  saw  him  there,  against  the  sky, 
silhouetted  for  a  moment,  before  he  disappeared  on 
his  reckless  descent  of  the  hazardous  stair. 

Ill 

Evening  was  rapidly  falling,  but  the  coming  of 
night  would  befriend  him,  since  it  could  not  hinder. 
As  he  reached  the  foot  of  the  stair  he  stood  for  a 
moment  in  hesitation.  He  listened.  The  tessellated 
square  was  silent,  but  for  a  drip  of  water  off  a  gutter 
into  one  of  the  great  butts ;  no  footsteps  rang  across 
the  cobbles;  no  voice  exclaimed  "Why,  Denel";  no 
call  from  Nan  or  Linnet  echoed  down  to  him  from 
above.  He  felt  himself  more  utterly  alone  than 
ever  in  his  life  before,  more  finally  at  bay.  Never 
for  an  instant  did  the  idea  of  giving  himself  up 
cross  his  mind.  He  was  calmer  now  than  he  had 
been  up  in  the  gallery,  where  he  had  bruised  himself 
so  cruelly  against  these  serried  vats.  Here,  at  least, 
he  had  space  around  him;  and  out  there,  where  he 
meant  to  go,  would  be  still  wider  space,  the  flat  free- 
dom of  the  Fens,  the  sky  above  his  head,  and  night, 
the  only  ally  that  could  begin  to  equalise  his  chances 
with  other  men. 

But  there  would  be  uncertainty.    Always  the  un- 
282 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

certainty  whether  he  had  or  had  not  been  seen.  He 
might  be  ringed  about  by  pursuers  closing  in  upon 
him,  and  not  know  it.  He  must  make  up  his  mind 
to  that ;  he  must  make  up  his  mind  to  the  knowledge 
that  defeat  would  overtake  him  in  the  end.  This 
knowledge  came  to  him  with  a  strangely  familiar 
quietness ;  it  was  as  though  it  had  been  with  him  all 
his  life,  although  he  might  not  have  given  it  a  name. 
In  the  silence  of  the  evening  he  passed  beyond 
the  factory  and  gained  the  road  on  the  top  of  the 
great  dyke  stretching  across  the  Fens.  Upon  its 
eminence  he  paused,  forlorn,  uncertain,  and  derelict. 
That  illumination  which  had  sustained  him  before, 
seemed  now  to  have  deserted  him;  he  no  longer 
trod  with  the  same  assurance,  but  cautiously, 
afraid  of  making  a  false  step  and  of  slipping  down 
the  sides  of  the  dyke,  afraid  of  being  seen,  upright 
upon  the  skyline,  yet  not  venturing  to  leave  the 
road  and  to  make  his  way  across  the  flooded  country. 
Yet  as  he  stumbled  on,  he  realised  that  therein  lay 
his  wisest  course :  the  floods  would  reveal  no  foot- 
marks, and  he  would  be  less  conspicuous  than  erect 
on  the  height  of  the  dyke.  In  so  far  as  his  hope- 
lessness could  devise  a  plan,  that  was  the  plan  to 

follow.    He  struck  across  the  road,  and,  crouching 

283 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

on  his  heels,  allowed  himself  to  slither  down  the 
escarpment.  At  the  bottom  he  found  the  water, 
icy  about  his  ankles,  and  shivered  at  its  sinister 
touch.  Nevertheless,  he  plunged  forward  into  it, 
his  hands  outstretched  before  him,  determined  to  put 
all  possible  distance  between  himself  and  Abbot's 
Etchery.  Behind  him  the  three  chimneys  of  the 
factory  vomited  their  black  plumes  of  noiseless 
smoke  that  trailed  across  the  sky,  but  of  this  he  did 
not  reckon;  he  was  aware  only  of  the  cry  of  the 
curlew  circling  above  him,  and  of  the  marshy 
ground  that  sucked  back  his  steps  beneath  the  water. 
He  fought  his  way,  each  foot  held  down  and  his 
progress  hampered  as  in  a  nightmare,  and  with  an 
effort  he  dragged  one  foot  after  the  other  stickily 
out,  ploughing  onwards  into  the  unknown  breadth 
of  the  marshes,  ignorant  of  his  surroundings,  of 
whether  night  had  fallen,  concealing  him,  or  whether 
the  last  bars  of  day  still  made  of  him  a  distinguish- 
able mark.  And,  for  his  greater  misery  and  discom- 
fort, as  he  advanced  across  the  submerged  fields,  he 
came  periodically  to  the  ditches  that  were  their 
boundaries,  and  knew  them  because  his  footing 
suddenly  failed  him  and  threw  him  forward  into  the 

water,  pitching  down  upon  hands  and  knees,  so  that 

284 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

presently  he  was  drenched,  and  the  touch  of  the 
water  which  at  first  had  been  only  about  his  ankles 
now  conquered  his  body  also,  little  by  little,  penetrat- 
ing to  his  skin,  glacial  as  the  presaged  touch  of  death. 
Still  he  advanced,  striving  towards  no  known  pros- 
pective refuge,  but  merely,  irrationally,  to  increase 
the  distance,  without  considering  the  paltriness  of 
the  help  those  few  poor  miles  could  afford  him. 

By  now,  although  he  could  not  be  certain  of  it, 
night  had  fully  come.  A  huge,  low  moon  stole  up 
above  the  horizon,  and  sailed  slowly  higher  into 
the  heavens  over  the  flooded  country.  In  its  light 
the  few  bare  trees  stood  up  like  twigs,  black  and 
stark;  and  still  across  the  now  shining  expanse  of 
water  the  blind  man  held  on  his  laborious,  hindered 
way  the  splash  of  his  steps  breaking  the  placid  sur- 
face into  a  ripple  of  jet  and  silver.  He  had  no  notion 
how  far  he  might  have  gone;  he  was  uncertain 
even  whether  he  had  succeeded  in  keeping  straight 
in  the  same  direction.  Every  now  and  then  he  came 
to  a  hillock  of  higher  ground,  which  lifted  him  for 
the  moment  out  of  the  floods,  and  every  now  and 
then  he  stumbled  into  a  ditch,  from  which  he  extri- 
cated himself,  his  teeth  chattering;  and  all  the  time 

he  walked  with  his  hands  groping  before  him,  but 

285 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

they  could  not  save  him  from  the  ditches  that  seemed 
to  lie  in  wait  for  him  and  to  take  pleasure  in  trap- 
ping him  unawares.  He  thought  that  he  must  have 
been  walking  half  the  night.  Even  the  curlews  had 
ceased  to  cry  long  since,  and  no  owl  hooted  across 
the  waste  of  waters.  His  extreme  weariness  dead- 
ened him;  but  fever  reanimated  him;  and  it  was  a 
conflict  as  to  which  would  gain  the  advantage.  At 
one  moment  he  thought  that  he  must  sink  down  from 
exhaustion,  even  into  the  floods;  the  next  moment, 
a  bout  of  fear  and  determination  spurred  him  on, 
and  he  splashed  forward,  behind  his  groping  hands, 
while  obscure  mutterings  came  in  the  immense 
silence  of  the  night  from  his  moving  lips. 

Morning  found  him  crouching  beside  some 
meagre  trees  upon  one  of  the  hillocks  out  of  reach 
of  the  water.  His  hair  was  matted,  his  eyes  blood- 
shot, his  clothes  wet  and  dankly  clinging  to  his 
limbs.  He  crouched  as  closely  as  possible  to  the 
ground,  feeling  about  for  the  shelter  of  the  trees, 
which,  leafless  as  they  were,  ofl"ered  no  shelter  at 
all.  He  crept  about  amongst  them, — ^they  might  be 
half  a  dozen  in  number,  a  small  clump; — he  crept 
over  the  twenty  square  feet  or  so  of  the  little  island 

on  which  he  was  marooned,  and  once  or  twice  he 

286 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

seemed  tempted  to  renew  his  passage  through  the 
water,  for  he  cautiously  adventured  down  to  its 
edge,  and  stretched  out  his  foot  towards  it,  but, 
although  he  essayed  this  on  different  sides  of  the 
mound,  he  always  took  his  foot  back  shuddering 
as  soon  as  he  encountered  the  water,  and  withdrew 
himself  in  the  same  shambling,  furtive  fashion  to 
the  shelter  of  the  trees. 

It  was  here  that  in  the  afternoon  he  was  found  by 
the  men  who  were  out  for  his  capture.  They  came 
beating  across  the  flooded  fields  in  extended  order, 
as  men  beating  for  game.  When  they  first  discried 
him  from  a  little  way  off,  he  still  was  stealing  about 
his  patch  of  refuge,  rambling  uneasily  and  without 
purpose,  now  coming  down  to  the  water's  edge, 
now  out  of  sight  over  the  curve  of  the  hillock,  now 
reappearing  to  slink  between  the  trees.  Uncouth, 
haggard,  his  clothes  torn  and  soiled,  his  hands  always 
at  their  unhappy  groping,  his  useless  eyes  turning 
hither  and  thither,  he  resembled  some  half -crazy 
castaway  that  might  have  subsisted  there  for  days 
on  berries  and  foul  water,  too  bemused  now  for 
further  endeavour;  too  broken  in  spirit  for  any 
frenzy  of  despair;  merely  acquiescent  in  his  climax 
of  the  long  premonitory  years;  waiting  for  the  end 

287 


THE  DRAGON  IN  SHALLOW  WATERS 

which,  after  all  the  riot  and  the  burden,  could  not 
be  otherwise  than  welcome. 

•  IV 

After  that  clay  clean  April  poured  sunlight  over 
the  marshes.  Flocks  of  plover  settled  on  the  emerg- 
ing pasture ;  and  the  sea,  whose  presence  was  divined 
rather  than  seen  over  the  edge  of  the  fens,  ceased 
to  be  a  threat,  and  became  a  promise,  for  the 
peculiar  void  of  the  sky  above  it,  where  land  stopped 
short,  grew  luminous  with  the  transparency  of 
shower-washed  spaces.  The  very  roads,  the  very 
railway  line  with  its  straight,  shining  metals, 
streamed  away,  avenues  of  promise  and  escape. 

Like  a  great  bowl  opened  to  the  gold-moted 
emptiness  of  heaven  the  country  lay,  recipient  of 
the  benediction. 

January — September,  1920. 


288 


A  Selection  from  the 
Catalogue  of 

C.  P-  PUTNAM'S  SONS 


Complete  Catalogues  seat 
on  application 


PRIVILEGE 

BY 

MICHAEL  SADLEIR 

**The  story  of  the  decline  and  fall  of  Whern  is 
always  poignant  and  never  dismal.  T^e  romance  is 
of  the  stuff  of  the  story,  seen  by  an  author  who 
knows  the  world  we  live  in.  .  .  .  The  picture,  for 
all  of  its  rich  colour  and  noble  gesture,  is  essentially 
true.  And  it  is  full  of  that  queer  fascination  exerted 
by  greatness  that  is  passing  or  has  passed." — Times 
Literary  Supplement, 

Hamilton  Fyfe  in  the  DAILY  MAIL  says: 

**  About  *  Privilege  *  I  find  it  hard  to  write  with- 
out exaggeration.  It  is  so  truly  imagined,  this  story 
of  the  decline  of  an  ancient  family  ;  so  skilfully  pre- 
sented, and  written  with  so  sure  a  hand,  that  we 
must  put  its  author  among  the  most  distinguished 
not  only  of  our  younger  but  of  all  our  novelists. 
.  .  .  The  entire  book  is  a  piece  of  literature,  satis- 
fying from  every  point  of  view." 

PUNCH  says: 

"  I  can  imagine  few  books  that  would  give  to 
some  modern  Rip  van  Winkle  a  better  understand- 
ing of  the  attitude  of  aristocratic  youth  towards  the 
life  of  today.  ...  A  novel  both  individual  and 
touched  with  a  dignity  too  rare  in  these  days  of 
slovenly  fiction." 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

NEW  YORK  LONDON 


The  House  in 
Queen  Anne  Square 


By 
W.  D.  Lyell 


"An  admirably  written  novel  of  intrigue  .  .  .  The  author  de- 
picts all  the  various  situations  by  which  a  plot  most  dexterously 
contrived  is  unravelled  .  .  .  This  is  melodrama,  to  be  sure,  but  it 
is  very  distinctly  of  the  police  variety.  Both  in  characterization 
and  in  style  it  is  far  superior  to  the  ordinary  mystery  story." 

From  The  Providence  Journal 

"The  House  in  Queen  Anne  Square  can  be  pronounced  the 
best  mystery  story  recently  found  on  a  constantly  lengthening 
list  ....  It  is  about  the  cleverest  mystery  that  anybody  could 
conceive  ....  It  may  now  be  suspected  that  the  absorbing 
story  is  written  with  unusual  skill  ....  It  is  not  your  ordinary 
detective  tale  turned  out  as  you  wait." 

From  The  Pittsburg  Dispatch 

"An  interesting  and  well-sustained  mystery  story,  whose 
solution  baffles  the  reader  until  the  very  end." 

From  The  New  York  Times 

"Mystery,  the  confusion  of  identities  and  crime  of  a  horrible 
subtle  nature  carry  the  reader  through  exciting  chapters.  There 
are  many  dramatic  moments  ...  At  the  tale's  close  comes  a 
very  astonishing  climax." 

The  Buffalo  Commercial 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
NEW  YORK  LONDON 


The  Man  with  the 
Brooding  Eyes 


By 

John  Goodwin 

Author  of  «* Without  Mercy" 

A  romance  full  of  excitement  and 
surprises,  woven  around  the  plots  not 
only  of  the  execrable  "Callaghan 
Gang,"  who  get  into  their  clutches  a 
stenographer  who  turns  out  to  be  an 
heiress,  but  of  the  counter-plots  of  a 
devoted  lover  and  clever  lawyer,  and 
of  a  '^tall,  lean  man  with  brooding 
eyes,"  who  plays  providence  in  a  story 
in  the  early  part  of  which  he  figures  as 
one  of  the  principal  villains. 


Q.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

New  York  London 


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